Presented by pr. Bartdbaran Maker ji IS 8 05 LAND THE OF GILEAD T^IE LAND OF GILEAD WITH EXCURSIONS IN THE LEBANON BY L A U R E N CE O LI P H A N T AUTHOR OK ‘LORD ELOIN’s mission TO CHINA,’ * PICCADILLY/ KTC. “I WILL BRING THEM INTO GILEAD ” WI1,L1AM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXX TO IlKR ROYAL HIGHNESS r II E P R I N C E S S C II R I S T I A N sciii.kswk; - jroLs'i i-.in soM)i:RBi:Kt;- AU'crs j KNni'Kt;, I’KINt'K.SS OK CKKAr K.KITAIN AND IKKLAM.), 11 IL I'OLLCJWIXC PA(JK.S AKK, I’.V PI:RM1SSI0N, IHost rfspcrtfiillu IDctiiratcti, AS A MARK OF DKKP GRATITUDK FOR TIIK WARM SYMPATHY AND CORDIAL IXTFREST MANIFFSTFD RY HER ROYAL UK.: II NESS IN THE author’s efforts TO PROMOTE JEWISH COLON ISA'IK/N IN PA EES 11 NK. CONTENTS. I'ACf; INTRODUCTION, xiii CHAPTER I. Arrival at Reyroiit - Preparations for the start — Sidon — Naba- tiyeh — The Metawalies — Th(‘ir religious o])scrvances — The Melchites -The castle of Belfort — The scenery of the Litany — The Merj Ayun — View of the Huleh — Capa- bilities of the plain of the Huleh — Railway from Haifa to Damascus — Tel el Kadi — Bania.s, .... CHAPTER II. .\in Fit — An Ansariyeh villap^e — The sheikh’s house — His reticence - Orij.;;in of the Ansariyeh — The founder of the sect — d'heir religious tenets — 'I'heir social divisions — Marria.L^e and other ceremonies — Journey to Kuneilereh — A Circa.ssian colony — Kiineitereh — J/i'(////ss at the Caima- kam’s- -Present condition and prospects of the Circassian colonists, . ..... 26 CHAPTER HI. Wc leave Kuneitendi- Jaulan — Jedur — The Lejah — Its impreg- nability .'^nd strategical importance — Va.st extent of pasture- lands— Ascent of Tel el Faris— Magnificent view— Fik, the ancient Aphek a id Hippos— The coming of Antichrist, and d Vlll CONTENTS. end of the world, «'iccording to the Koran — Tseil — Arrival at Sheikh Sa’ad — The monastery and tomb of Job — A shrine of Moslem pilgrimage — Singular monolith — The land of Uz — The worship of Baal and Asherah — The sites of Ashtaroth and Ashtaroth Carnaim, . . . - -55 CHAPTER lY. We enter Gilead — Mezarib — The Cavea Roob — Irbid A surly Cadi — View from the castle — The ruins of Abila — Sub- terranean dwellings and stone houses at Irbid — A raid upon the Beni Sukhr— 'Die ruins of Capitolias — Under- ground exploration -An energetic Caimakam Summary punishment of the Bedouins — Arab customs, . 97 CHAPTER V. Kurdish zaptiehs The reform ])roblem - Revenue of Ajlun Its resources — From Irbid to Gadara — Wooiled cnunlry Ruins of Gadara -'Fhe baths of Amalha- A gnixl specula - tion — The Wady Araba Night ([uarlers at Kt fr Assad The frontier of Ckid Dolmens Mahanaim 'I'lii' pursuit ol Jephlliaii --'rhe scene of Absalom’s death Di n^e loiasis I'he mountains and village of Ajlun. . iJi CHAI'TER \'I. Ajlun- -'rhe Christian (juarter Beauty of the female pojuda tion • 'rhrealened night attack — Kulat er Kubud W’ads Vabis -Sul)mission of rehtdlious skeikhs — Settlement of dis- ])utes Road to Suf — A sheikh’s li stiinonials — Jei ash- \'ast extent of ruins—'rekitty--- Suc«:oth and Peniiel Across the jabbok — 'fhe Belka, ..... ini CHAPTER VH. Salt Its turbulent population -Ibogress ol civilisation I.and-tenure - Agriculture - - Ascent of Jebel Osh’a Salt li'.t Ramoth-t iilead Probable site of Kamoth-Gihsul and Ramotli-Mi/peh — We hear of the ruins of Rahab Refusal of the Beni llassaii Arabs to take us there — Start for Kalal /erka, . . . . . . i‘») CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER VIII. The depressed plain of Hech.ia — The ruins of El Basha- Ruins of Jajus, the site of Jahaz or Jazer — Kalat Zcrka — A military y)ost — Sheikh Diab — The subterranean cities of Derat, Beloola, .and Rahab — Rabbath-Ammon — The great theatre occupied by Circassians, .... CHAPTER IX. 'Fhe ruins of Rabbath-Ammon -'I’he citadel — An ill-condi- tionefl zaptich — Driven back by the weather to Salt — Abou Jabr, a Protestant settler — Expedition to Arak el Emir — We lose our way -Elias Daoud -The ruins of Arak el Emir — Abagnificcnt country, ..... 259 CHAl^TER X. Eertility oi (lilead Its Arab poj)ulation — 'I'he cisterns of I\Ioab -Inducements to colonise Moab ami (blead —Their varied pr()diicti»)ns and salubrious climate --The labour pr()l)lem — 'Pransport and propo.sed railway .sy.stem — A land of promise, ...... 2S4 CHAPTER XI. We leave (blend - Elias Daoud — 'Phe plain of Shillim The Jordan in flood Jericho- -Arrival at Jerusalem — The Holy Week and Jewish Passov(‘r — 'Phe Jewish colony of the 'IVmple — Jifna - The family of Pbias Daoud-- Rapacious tax-gatherers Opjiression of the Moslem ])e.asantry, 305 CHAPTER Xli. Nablous -'Phe Mutes.sarif — Desire for Biitish occupation - Jenin- -Mounl (blboa— Nazareth— 'Phe plain of Esdraelon - Farming open^tions on a large .scale — I he German colony of Haifa- -'Phe h iibour— Estia — Acre — 'Purkish oflicials- - Trade of Acre Tyre Sidon. .... 324 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. Departure from Beyrout — Ain Anub — A Druse assembly — Druse character — Their diplomacy — A silk factory— The valley of the Damur — Prosperity of the Lebanon accounted for — Der El Kamr — The Maronite priesthood — The palace of Beteddin — Keats of horsemanship — A noisy welcome — Arrival at Mukhtara — A native banquet — -The Jumbelat family — The birth of an heir— Great rejoicini^s on the occasion, ...... 342 CHAPTER XIV. Origin of the Druse religion The Imaiimat — Connection of Druse theology with China — 'Fhe origin of evil - 'riu? transmigration of souls — Divine manifestations Drii.se view of Christ — The four ministers of truth 'The day of judgment — Ceremony of initiation -Secret organisation Druse women — Ain Matur, ..... 379 CHAPTER XV. .\scent of the Lebanon range The Buka’a- Aithi An in- hospitable reception — An educated Syrian - - Arrival at Damascus — A geological excursion — The Baghdad post- men — Dhumayr - Wedding festivities at Adra — Dervish miracles— Serj)ent-eating — Knife-slabbing and impervious- ness to fire — The dervish sheikh’s exj>lanation -- A Damas- cus theatre -The Arab opera of “ AVda," CHAPTER XVI. Start for Baalbec and Malula- Wadies and saharas - Tourist vandal'sm at Baalbec — Cross the Anti-Lebanon - Tunnel entrance to Malula — Its romantic position -The Syriac language — Oeek monasteries — The convent of Sednaya — The miracle-working Madonna- Menin — Return to Damas- cus — Start for Zahleh — Its picturestiue situation —Cross the Lebanon — Mezra’a — Abdulla, the son of Jirius the priest, . CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XVII. Ruins of Kalat F'akra — The natural bridge — Magnificent scenery — Afka — The temple of Adonis — We are benighted — Arrival at Ghazir — Night quarters — Political discussions — Maronite views — Ecclesiastical cupidities — The Nahr-el- Kelb - Inscriptions- “Departure from Beyrout, . . 475 CHAPTER XVIH. POMTICAL. Arrival at Constantinople — Khaireddin Pasha — His successors — Official corruption- Procrastination and intrigue — Neces- sity for responsible government— Unpo])ularily of the pres- ent system — Decentralisation and local administrative auto- nomy — Tlie political and strategical importance of Palestine “A possible Russian crusade - Beneficial infliuriice of a Jewish colony — The future of Palestine, A P PEN D I X T hi: Colonisation op PAiaiSTiNr., LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I At. I-'. 'Fhe Ruins of Jerash, . . Frontispiece 'Fhe Gorge of the Yarmuk, . . S7 The Caster of Kalat er Ruuuh, . .172 'I'he Grand Theatre, Rabhath- Ammon, 254 Ruins, Rabrath-Ammon, . . . 264 Arak el Emir, . • . 2S0 Mukhtaka, . . . AIalula, . . . .452 The Natural Bridge, ..... 47*s Map showing the proposed Railways, and Sn e of THE proposed CoI.ONY, .... 302 Map of Palesiine, showing the Rouri-: taken hy Mr Oliphant, .... At the tud INTRODUCTION. riiic travels recorded in the following pages were undertaken in pursuance of an idea which occurred to me shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, and when it became evident that the Eastern Question was about to enter upon a new phase. It was manifest that the immediate effect of that treaty would be to render inevitable an external inter- ference in the domestic affairs of Turkey, of a more pronounced character than had ever existed before; and that this interference was calculated sooner or later to produce most serious complica- tions, unless it could be averted by reforms in the administration springing from the initiative of the Sultan, which should anticipate any such forcible intrusion from without. Whereas the Treaty of 1856, which resulted in^ the promulgation of the Hatti Houmayoun, carefully provided against any intervention on the part of foreign Powers to en- force the fulfilment of that or any other reformatory measure, the Treaty of Berlin expressly stipulated in favour of such interference in the event of the XIV INTRODUCTION. expectations of the Powers remaining unsatisfied ; and by the Cyprus Convention the Government of the Sultan came under special obligations in regard to the whole of Asia Minor. Having visited Turkey upon three former occasions — in the years 1855, i860, and 1862 — and travelled pretty extensively through the country, I thoroughly realised the fact- familiar to all those acquainted with its administra- tion — that any reform, to be effectual, must begin with the official system at Constantinople; and that, in default of that being possible, the only chance of reform at the extremities, was by a process of decen- tralisation, which should more or less provide for tin; administrative autonomy of the provinces to be re- formed, and for the immovability during a term of years of the valis or governors-gencral. As, how ever, it was scarcely to be expected that the T urkish Government would consent to adopt a radical meas- ure of this kind, and apply it throughout the extent of its vast Asiatic dominions, it occurred to me that an experiment might be made on a small scale, and that an evidence might thus be afforded to the Porte of the advantages which would attend the development of a single province, however small, under conditions which should increase the revenue of the empire, add to i*^s population and resources, secure protec- tion of life and property, and enlist the sympathy of Europe, without in any way affecting the sovereign rights of the Sultan.' As the objection to all reforms INTRODUCTION. XV . proposed was, that they involved an increased ex- penditure which the finances of Turkey were unable to meet, it seemed possible that a scheme which should bring foreign capital with it to carry it out, might be favourably regarded at Constantinople, provided it was not accompanied by obnoxious pro- visions in regard to foreign supervision — a point upon which the Sultan and his Ministers are not unnaturally extremely sensitive. It appeared to me that this object might be attained by means of a Colonisation Company, and that one of those rich and unoccupied districts which abound in Turkey might be obtained and developed through the agency of a commercial enterprise which should be formed under the auspices of his hlajesty, and have its seat at Constantinople — though, as in the case of the Otto- man Bank and other Turkish companies, the capital would be found abroad, provided the charter con- tained guarantees adequate for the protection of the interests of the shareholders. The next questions which naturally presented themselves to my mind were, — first, the locality to be selected for the experiment; and secondly, the class of people who should be invited to come as col- onists. The objection to foreigners who were at the same time Christians seemed insurmountable, as by the existing colonisation law it was made a sine qua non that any colonists permanently settling in Turkey in Asia should become Ottoman subjects — a provi- XVI INTRODUCTION. sion with which foreign Christians were extremely unlikely to comply, as they would thereby forfeit all special privileges of consular protection, and lose the benefit of the capitulations. Moreover, the rivalries of the various Christian sects, already productive of so much mischief throughout Turkey, and the jealousy of the Powers supporting them, would certainly ren- der all attempts at harmonious colonisation abortive. The idea, therefore, of colonising with European Christians was speedily dismissed. The possibility of finding, under the auspices of such a Company, an asylum for the thousands of Moslem refugees, who, driven from their homes in Bulgaria and Roumelia, were starving in various parts of the empire, also suggested itself ; but the difficulty in this case arose from the extreme improbability of finding tbe capital in Christian Europe which would be required for the transportation of thousands of ijenniless men, women, and children, and establishing them under conditions which should enable them to subsist through the early stages of the development of a new country: the houses to be built, the stock and farm implements to be provided, and the facilities of transport to be created, would all fall exclusively upon the Company. The chances of rciuuneration, therefore, were not likely to tempt capitalists, while European sympa- thies in favour of poor Moslems were not sufficiently strong to make it likely that the charitable public would come forward to a sufficient extent in favour INTRODUCTION. XVll of any such enterprise. There was, in fact, only one race in Europe who were rich, and who did not, therefore, need to appeal to Christian capitalists for money to carry through the whole undertaking ; who were not Christians, and to whom, therefore, the objections of the Porte to the introduction of more rival Christian sects did not apply; who had never alarmed the Turkish Government by national aspira- tions, but, on the contrary, had always proved them- selves x7iost loyal and peacable subjects of his Ma- jesty; who were nevertheless strongly attached by historical association to a province of Asiatic Tur- key, and to whom the inducement of once more be- coming proprietors of its sacred soil might prove strong enough to tempt them to comply with the probable conditions of the Turkish Government; more especially as the j^ersecution to which they were subjected by some Christian Governments in Europe, contrasted most unfavourably with the tol- eration with which they were treated in Turkey itself. It was thus that I found myself, by a process of de- duction, compelled to turn for the locality of the col- ony to Palestine, and for the colonists to the Jews. The more I examined the project from this point of view, the more desirable on political grounds did it ai^pear. The establishment of a Jewish colony in Palestine, under the Imperial auspices, was not likely to excite the suspicion or arouse the hostility of the Powers of Europe, and much less of the Sultan him- XVIU INTRODUCTION. self. On the contrary, his Majesty, by affording an asylum for this people, so much oppressed by certain Christian Governments, had an opportunity of con- trasting his clemency with their severity, of enlisting sympathy in behalf of Turkey in those countries which have espoused the Jewish cause, and of prov- ing that in a province to which the capitulations did not extend, a community might be formed under con- ditions which afforded greater guarantees for order and eood irovcrnment than could be found in those provinces where conflicting consular jurisdictions were a perpetual source of disturbance. The Jews themselves have borne repeated testi- mony to the fact that, so far as they are concerned, Christian fanaticism in Eastern Europe is far more bitter than Moslem ; and indeed the position of Jews in Turkey is relatively favoured. They are, as a rule, on good terms with the people amongst whom they live, and enjoy the protection of the Govern- ment, such as it is. In illustration of this, I may quote the concluding paragraphs of the firman granted by the Sultan Abdul Medjid to the Israel- ites in his empire, at the request of Sir Moses Mon- tefiorc, in 1840. It is addressed to the Chief Judge at Constantinople, and at the head of the document the S iltan wrote with his own hand the sentence- “ Let that be executed which is prescribed in this firman.” After alluding to an ignorant prejudice which prevailed among the Mohammedans, and INTRODUCTION. XIX which seems to have led to persecution, that the Jews were ‘‘accustomed to sacrifice a human hein^ to make use of his blood at their feast of the Pass- over, and stating, “the charges made against the Jews and their religion are nothing but pure calum- nies,” it concludes : — “For this reason, and the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation (wliose innocence of the crime alleged against them is evident) to be vexed and tor- mented upon accusations which have not the least founda- tion in truth, but that, in conformity to the /uiUi sdierif which has been proclaimed at Gulhane, the Jewish nation shall possess the same advantages and enjoy the same privileges as arc granted to the numerous other nations who submit to our authority. “The Jewish nation shall be protected and defended. “ To accomplish this object, we have given the most posi- tive orders that the Jewish nation dwelling in all parts of our empire shall be perfectly protected as well as all other subjects of the Sublime Porte, and that no person shall molest them in any manner whatever (except for a just cause), neither in the free exercise of their religion, nor in that which concerns their safety and tranquillity. In con- sequence, the present firman, which is ornamented at the head with our hoomaioon (sign - manual), and emanates from our Imperial Chancellerie, has been delivered to the Israelitish nation. “ Thus you, the above-mentioned judge, when you know the contents of this firman, will endeavour to act with great care in the manner therein prescribed. And in order that nothing may be done in opposition to this firman at any time hereafter, you will register it in the archives of the tribunal; you will afterwards deliver it to the Israelitish XX INTRODUCTION. r nation ; and you will take great care to execute our orders and this our sovereign will. “Given at Constantinople, the I2th Ramazan, 1256 (6th of November 1840).” That the Jews would respond to an invitation from the Sultan to return and take possession of the soil in a district of their own ancient heritage, I did not ■ doubt, notwithstanding the reflection which a few of their co-religionists in the great centres of European civilisation have cast upon their devotion to the land of their fathers. I append two articles from the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ of the 9th January and iith June 18S0, which, as that paper is the leading Hebrew organ in this country, does, it may be assumed, represent the feeling of the nation on this subject ; ^ and in this impression I have been strongly confirmed by Jews with whom I have since conversed in the East. The total number of the Hebrew race to-day is between six and seven millions. There are in liurope about 5,000,000 ; in Asia, over 200,000 ; in Africa, nearly 100,000; in America, from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000. More than half the ICuropean Jews — 2,621,000 — reside in Russia; 1,375,000 inhabit Austria, of whom 575.000 live in tf ^ Polish province of Galicia; 512.000 live in Germany; Roumania is credited with 274,000, and Turkey itself with over 100,000. There are 70,000 in Holland, 50,000 in England, ‘ See Appendix I. INTRODUCTION. XXI 49,000' in France, 35,000 in Italy, and the other European countries contain very limited proportions. Of the Asiatic Jews, 20,000 arc assigned to India and 25,000 to Palestine. As the area of land which I should propose in the first instance for colonisa- tion would not exceed a million, or at most a million and a half of acres, it would be hard if, out of nearly 7,000,000 of people attached to it by the tradition of former possession, enough could not be found to subscribe a capital of £ i ,000,000, or even more, for its purchase and settlement, and if, out of that number, a selection of emigrants could not be made, possessing sufficient capital of their own to make them desirable colonists. I should not expect such men to come from England or France, but from Euroj^ean and Asiatic Turkey itself, as well as from Russia, Galicia, Roumania, Servia, and the Slav countries where they are more especially oppressed, and where there are many among the richer classes who would gladly exchange the persecution under which they live for the freer air which they would breathe under Turkish rule in the land of their fore- fathers. It is true that about 25,000 are there already ; but they are, for the most part, of a men- dicant class, and are deprived of that protection which they would enjoy under the auspices of a company and a charter securing them a certain amount of self-government. As it is, the condition of the Sephardim Jews in Palestine contrasts favour- xxii INTRODUCTION. ably with that of the Jews in Russia or Roumania; while in other parts of Asiatic Turkey they form in many instances the richest section of the community, and contribute largely by their capital to the pros- perity of the country, Mr Geary, in an interesting account of a journey recently undertaken from India to Europe through Asiatic Turkey, thus describes a community of J ews which he visited near Bagdad : — “ The Jews of the town of Ilillah,” he says, “ form a large body, and the capitalists among them advance money to the cultivators to make irrigation-cuttings and plant crops. It is said that agriculture, such as it is, of half Mesopotamia, would come to an end if it were not for the Jews of Bagdad and Ilillah, who are in that country what the Soucars arc in India. They carefully abstain from buying land, and, as a rule, from building houses, so that when the moment comes that summons them to Jerusalem, they may not be delayed by the necessity of turning irremov- able property into ready money. For the most part, they are the descendants of the Jews of the Captivity : a Jewish community has lived in this strange land by the waters of Babylon since Israel was led captive; but it has never ceased to yearn for a return, more or less triumphant and miraculous, to the heritage of the seed of Abraham,”^ It has been objected that the Jews are not agricul- * Through Asiatic Turkey (G. Cleary), vol. i. p. 189. The following k rer which appeared not long since in a Jewish INTRODUCTION. XXUl turists,' and that any attempt to develop the agricul- tural resources of a country through their instrumen- tality must result in failure. In the first instance, it is rather as landed proprietors, than as labourers on the soil, that I should propose to invite them to emigrate into Palestine, where they could lease their p.aper published in the United States, called the 'American Hebrew,’ shows that these expectations arc not con lined to the Jews of Ilillah : “ Back to Palkstine. “ I'o the ^American Hebrew.’ “ While I admire your wisdom in what you so happily have termed, steerini; clear of the ‘ Scylla of Orthodoxy and the Charybdis of Reform, excuse me if I draw your attention to the si.e:nilicancy of JMr Oliphant’s scheme, which is attracting such wide and remarkable attention, and which has received already tlic unoflicia] sanction of such influential powers as the Earls of Beaconslield and Salisbury. “As far as 1 understand, reformers in tliis country only abandon the doctrine of the re-establishment of our State. Orthodox Jews do not ; and while they declai'e that it docs not necessarily imply that all the Jews in the world shall be capped up between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, any more than all Americans arc in America or Frenciimen in Franct', they say, and with justice, that the geoj^raphi- cal position and extreme fertility of Palestine ])oint to a grand future for it, as soon as it is rescued from the incapable government of thi! Forte, sublime only in its indifference to progress in all sublime parts of its happy empire. “ Now, as an attentive reader of the T)i])le, I cannot but be struck with the fact that a realisation of iMr Uliphant's scheme would be a wonderful coincidence when compared with the announcements in the sacred volume. A colonisation of Palestine by the Jews, with the sanction and assistance of the various kings and potentates, would be in strict acconlance with such passages as Isa. eii. xlix. v. 22, 23, where it says, Gentiles shall be the active instruineals of the restora- tion, kings and ([ueens the prime movers. See also ch. lx. v. 3, 4, 5 • Ixi. V. 4, 5 ; Ixvi. v. 20. “I would like some abler pen to write upon this subject than that of M. H. BiRNiniArM." XXIV INTRODUCTION. own land at high prices to native farmers if they preferred, instead of lending money on crops at 20 or 25 per cent to the peasants, as they do at present, and for which they have no landed security ; but it is probable that the prospect of a large remunera- tive return for the investment of their capital would soon induce them to acquire a knowledge of farming themselves sufficient for all practical iDurposes. At Lydda, about ten miles from Jaffa, fifty-five Jewish families, composed of Sephardim and Ashkenazim, have recently established themselves on a tract of upwards of 2000 acres of land, which' they arc culti- vating with great success. Indeed, among the Se- phardim in Palestine many excellent agriculturists are to be found. In the Sandjak of Acre, Lieu- tenant Kitchener came upon a village in the course of his survey, the whole population of which were Jewish agriculturists, who maintained that their an- cestors had tilled the same soil from time imme- morial. In Morocco and other parts of Africa, Jews are to a considerable extent employed in agriculture, while in Russia agricultural colonies of Jews have been tried with marked success. In a recent number of the ‘ Times ’ one of its own correspondents re- marks : “ The Rii_so-Polish and Lithuanian towns are swarming with such a large and unemployed Jew- ish population, that the civic authorities are no longer able to siqjport them, and the Government have therefore resolved to found more agricultural INTRODUCTION, XXV colonies in the various provinces for the reception of this superfluous Hebrew proletariat, those created several years ago having of late shown signs of pros- perity, — a remarkable truth, I may take the liberty to add, in view of the fact that in no country what- soever, where they settle, do the gifted descendants of Jacob show anything but the most deep-rooted aversion from manual labour.” There can be no doubt that this inai^titude and dislike to field-labour arises partly from the religious sentiment which has operated to prevent their becoming landholders any- where except in their own country, and partly from the difficulties which both the Governments and the peoples in many countries have opposed to their becoming proprietors of the soil ; but their early his- tory testifies that no such objection to a rural life existed in former days, while in some parts of Asiatic I'urkey they to this day retain those pastoral habits which especially characterised the race. In the Kurdo-Jewish district the shepherds are principally jews ; while several wandering tribes of the Arabian desert, though called Arabs, are purely Jewish, and to this day pasture their flocks of sheep and camels upon its oases, I am well aware that the Alliance Israelite Universelle has established an agricultural school at Jaffa known as the “ Mikveh Israel,” con- sisting of 780 acres of market-garden, where Jewish children arc trained and educated in agricultural pur- suits, which cannot be considered altogether a sue- XXVI INTRODUCTION. cess. This is partly owing to the extremely unfor- tunate choice of the land, which is close to the great sand-dunes which bound the shores of Palestine, and which, advancing, it is said, a yard a - year, have already partially invaded the property; and partly owing to the absence of any protection against the extortions of the Turkish Government and the hos- tility of the native population, — objections which would not arise in a country where there were no settled agricultural inhabitants to compete with, and under conditions especially adapted to provide against undue interference on the part of the Government, and which should insure the necessary protection. It is not, however, upon Jewish labour that Hebrew capitalists emigrating to a colony in Palestine would need to rely ; and I have shown, in my description of the tract which I propose for colonisation, from whence their labour could be drawn. At the same time, were any further evidence re- quired that the Jews consider themselves qualified as agriculturists, that they are eager to emigrate in that capacity from the countries in which they are now oppressed and persecuted, and that the land upon which their longing eyes are fixed as their future home is Palestine, it is to be found in the account contained in tlie f'jllowing letter from the president and members of a society lately formed in Roumania — dated Iiucharest, 20th August 1880, ac- cording to our calendar — to the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ : INTRODUCTION. XXVll To the Editor of the * Jewish Chronicle" Sir, — Wc have long heard that you are always ready to devote your valued columns to anything involving the wel- fare and prosperity of your brethren, and that your great object is to promote their interests. We therefore entreat that you will grant a hearing to us who seek your assistance. The troubles which the Jews of Roumania arc compelled to suffer arc well known to you. It is a land whose princes arc like the wolves of the forest, in their endeavour to anni- hilate the children of Israel. With fearful zeal they seek to persecute us ; one day they pursue ns under the name of religious enthusiasm, and on the morrow they abandon the cry which is so disgraceful to them. But then they conceal their hatred under the name of economy, alleging that the state of trade and mercantile prospects of the country compel them to act oppressively to the Jews who absorb the substance of the Roumanians, and many other such excuses. Thus are we constantly and severely attacked, and our powers of endurance are exhausted. We have therefore resolved, after mature deliberation, to leave the country. With this view we have formed ourselves into a Society for the Colonisation of the Holy Land, consisting of a hundred families. Every one of the members is ex- perienced in the work of cultivating the soil, and it is our intention to journey to Palestine to “ till the ground and to guard it.” The members will subscribe 400 francs each, and the sum of 40,000 francs thus subscribed, it is our wish to send to tlie Board of Deputies in London, one of whose objects is to found a Memorial in honour of Sir Moses Montefiorc. We purpose that the Board shall purchase land in Palestine and found a colony for us, and that the expenses thus incurred by the l^oard shall be refunded by us in ten years — for we have no wish that the Board shall give us charity, only that funds may be granted to us as a XX via INTRODUCTION. loan. The project would not necessitate a very large out- lay, as it would now be an easy matter to obtain land from the Turkish Government on a ten years agreement, and it would suffice if 20,000 or 30,000 francs were added to the 40,000, which we would send as a first instalment. With God\s blessing we should be able to pay off this debt entirely. Until this is done, the ground and everything which shall be provided for the colony, is to be under the name of the Board as security. There seems to us to be another advantage to recommend our scheme to the minds of our brethren. It would offer to the inhabitants of the Holy Land opportunities of learii- ing agriculture through our means, so that they might escape the sad charge of eating the bread of idleness. We intend sending concurrently with this a letter to the heads of the Board of Deputies, and we therefore beg of you to use your powerful influence on our behalf with our benev- olent brethren. We trust that the valuable aid of your journal will be effectiv^’c in bringing speedy assistance to one hundred distressed families. If this object is attained, the Sir Moses Montefiorc Testimonial will be realised, for which a large sum of money has already been collected. The time has certainly arrived for something to be done. With the earnest hope that you will inspire the hearts of the lovers of Israel with a desire to help their brethren, we beg, honoured sir, to subscribe ourselves, Abraham Wkinihkld, rresident. Hirsch Grai.kn, Nisax Aubkwjtcii, . .. ) Members. Samokb Braunsciiwkix, Abraham Schkxbkrc, SOCIKTV FOR TIIK Cor.ONrs\TF< X f)F THK IIoI.Y LaNIJ, BuciiAKKsr, Ellul 13///, 5640. INTRODUCTION. XXIX The correspondence to which this appeal from Bucharest gave rise will be found in the Appendix,^ and I trust it may result in action being taken in the matter. That the Jews in England share the senti- ments of their Roumanian co-religionists, may be gathered from the following paragraph extracted from their leading organ in this country, alluding to the late chancre of Government and its bear- o ing upon the scheme which I presented at the Porte ; — ‘'It is to be liopcd that the Liberal leaders may see fit to give, if it be only unofficially, some kind of counte- nance, as did the Conservative authorities, to Mr Laurence Oliphant’s excellent scheme for the peaceful and non-politi- cal colonisation of a portion of Palestine by our people. Such sanction would, more than anything else, show that this scheme is wholly of a non-political character — a guar- antee greatly needed b}' the timorous Ottoman rulers, who see the shadow of politics in all regenerative plans. The Liberal party may count on the assistance of the Jews in all serious efforts towards reforming matters in the Last. We have too much at stake to be indifferent in the matter, and too large a proportion of brethren in deep suffering from the present condition of affairs to remain supine. The peoi)le of Phiglaiul — who include the Jews of luigland — cry out for reform in the East in the name of our common humanity.” - It was indeed my hope that, by enabling the Porte to take the initiative in this project of internal re- form, it would be deprived of any political aspect, as * II. - ‘Jewish Chronicle,’ gth April iSSo. XXX INTRODUCTION. suggested by English interests exclusively ; for it is beyond a question that whatever conduces towards the maintenance of the integrity of the Ottoman empire in Asia is not only in the interests of Eng- land, but of the peace of Europe. If, owing to the refusal of the Sultan to entertain it, I now allude to its political bearings, it is not because I desire to impair that integrity, but because, while it should undoubtedly be the policy of England to do all in her power to support the Sultan in any attempts which he may make to reform the administration of his Government, and in his own interest to ex- ercise all legitimate pressure upon his Majesty in that direction, we cannot be blind to the fact that the opposition to reform in certain quarters is so de- termined as to render the task almost hopeless, and that every day increases the danger of the premature dissolution of the empire. It is most unfortunate that the efforts which England is making to avert any such catastrophe should be misconstrued at Con- stantinople into a desire to obtain possession of Asia Minor, — a misconception which has acquired so firm a hold on some official minds, that well-meant en- deavours to consolidate and strengthen the l urkish empire were met with suspicion and opposition, until at last the catastrophe has become imminent, which it was the interest of England, no less than of Tur- key, to avert. If, immediately after the Treaty of Lerlin, the Porte had frankly acted upon the advice of INTRODUCTIOK. XXXI England, and relied upon the honesty of her desire to preserve Asia Minor to the Sultan, instead of fos- tering the suspicion that she wished to conquer it for herself, I believe that a reform which should have begun at the centre, and extended to the extrem- ities of the empire, might have been successfully carried out. Unfortunately it is now too late, the isatience of England is exhausted, new political com- binations have been formed, and it behoves us to anticipate the complications which may arise out of the altered relations of England and Turkey. Po- litical events in the East have so shaped themselves, that Palestine, and especially the provinces to the east of the Jordan, owing to their geographical posi- tion, have now become the pivot upon which of necessity they must ultimately turn. Situated be- tween the Holy Places at Jerusalem and the Asiatic frontier of Russia, between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, between Syria and Eigypt, their strat- egic value and political importance must be apparent at a glance ; and the day is probably not far distant when it may be found that the most important inter- ests of the British empire may be imperilled by the neglect to provide in time for the contingencies which arc now looming in the immediate future. 1 have adverted to these at some length in the last chapter, as well as to the policy which the result of a year's negotiation at Constantinople leads me to believe would be most likely to secure the desired results. XXXll INTRODUCTION. Nor can we, in connection with this project and the probable future of Palestine, ignore the great change which has taken place during the last fifty years in the relations which the Jewish race occupy towards the Governments of Europe. As a conse- quence of the more enlightened policy which has been pursued towards them of later years, they have been enabled to increase in wealth and num- bers, while their social and political status has been so improved as to have made it possible for them to acquire an almost commanding influence in the finance and press of many civilised countries. It is evident, therefore, that a colony founded by their enterprise, under the auspices of the Sultan, would enjoy a protection of a very special character, and that the influence of the race upon the several Gov- ernments under whicli they possess civil rights would be' exercised in its favour. It is somewhat unfortunate that so important a political and strategical question as the future of Palestine should be inseparably connected in the public mind with a favourite religious theory. The restoration of the Jews to Palestine has been so often urged upon sentimental or Scriptural grounds, that now, when it may p >ssibly become the practical and common-sense solution of a great future difficulty, a prejudice against it exists in the minds of those who have always regarded it as a theological chi- mera, which it i„ not easy to remove. The mere INTRODUCTION. XXXlll accident of a measure involving most important in- ternational consequences, having been advocated by a large section of the Christian community, from a purely Biblical point of view, does not necessarily impair its political value. On the contrary, its po- litical value once estimated on its own merits and admitted, the fact that it will carry with it the sym- pathy and support of those who are not usually par- ticularly well versed in foreign politics is decidedly in its favour. I would avail myself of this oppor- tunity of observing that, so far as my own efforts are concerned, they are based upon considerations which have no connection whatever with any popular religious theory upon the subject. In the event — scarcely, I fear, to be expected — of wiser counsels prevailing at the Porte, and of the introduction at Constantinople of institutions which should impart some stability and homogeneity to the Cabinet, and increase the responsibility of Min- isters to the country, by the creation of a popularly elected chamber, however small, it is possible that tht' dangers which I have indicated might be averted, and that a new and better system of government, under which existing abuses would be remedied, might be inaugurated. In that case the extension of an experiment of colonisation — under which all colonists should become, ipso faclo, Ottoman subjects — throughout Palestine, would be a source of strength to the Sultan’s empire. Indeed, if the system upon XXXIV INTRODUCTION. which the colony was administered proved success- ful, it might serve as a model for the rest of Syria and Asia Minor, and might prove a means of illus- trating the inutility of the capitulations which, prac- tically though indirectly enabling a discrimination to be made, as they do now, between two classes of his Majesty’s subjects, create a serious obstacle to reform. There would then be no reason why Christians should under some circumstances enjoy protection and privileges denied to Moslems, and under others be the victims of special persecution ; for the same treatment might be applied to them which secured the good government of the colonists without con- sular interference. So long as the rival Clu'istian communities — of which there are fourteen in S}Tia alone, seven Catholic and seven anti-Catholic — have power to invoke the foreign protection that suits them, whenever they feel, either justly or unjustly, aggrieved with the Government or with one another, so long will every vilayet be a hotbed of diplomatic and religious intrigue, and the authority of the cen- tral Government be undermined, until at last the fate which has overtaken European 'I'urkey, in conse- cpience of f)reign interference and agitation in its internal affairs, will be precipitated upon the Asiatic provinces of the empire. Before deciding definitely w’hether the scheme was a practicable oiv or not, I found that it would be INTRODUCTION. XXXV necessary to visit the country, with the view of select- ing the district and examining the local conditions ; and even then, provided that a region adapted for the purpose could be found, everything would de- pend upon the disposition manifested by the Porte to entertain the idea. Prior to starting, however, it seemed to be my first duty to lay the matter before the Government, with the view of obtaining their support and approval, and I therefore communicated to the then Prime Minister and Lord Salisbury the outline of the project. P'rom both Ministers I re- ceived the kindest encouragement and assurances of support, so far as it was possible to afford it with- out officially committing the Government. And 1 was instructed to obtain, if possible, the unofficial approval of the French Minister of p'oreign Affairs of the scheme. I therefore proceeded to Paris, and submittc;d it to M. Waddington, who was suffi- ciently favourably impressed with the idea to give m(? a circular letter to the P'rench ambassailor at Constantinople and other diplomatic and consular representatives in Turkey. I was also similarly provirletl with letters of recommendation from our own P'onfign Office. I would venture to exi)ress most respectlully my gratitude ami thanks to his Royal Highness the Prince of W ales, and to their Royal High- nesses the Prince and Princess Christian of Schles- wig-Holstein, for the warm interest and cordial XXXVl INTRODUCTION, sympathy with which they regarded the project, and which encouraged me to prosecute it. I would also take this opportunity of tendering my hearty acknowledgments to my numerous friends, Chris- tian and Jewish, who were so kind as to afford me their assistance and advice. It is, however, only since my return to England that I have be- come aware how deep and widespread is the inter- est which has been felt in the successful issue of an undertaking which involves such imiiortant phil- anthropic and political results. If the preliminary staec of negotiation with the Turkish Government was not crowned with the success which I had anti- cipated, it must be remembered that I attempted it alone and comparatively unaided. So far from being discouraged, my late e.xpcricnce more than ever con- vinces me that the scheme is in all respects jjracti- cable, and that it is only necessary for the pul)lic to take it uj), supported by the Grovernment, in order to overcome the resistance which I encountered at Con- stantinople, and which was due to an altogether c‘X- ceptional combination of adverse influenc(;s. Under any circumstances, it is impossible that the region which comprises within its limits the luxuriant pasture-lands of Ja !an, the magnificent forest-clad mountains of Ciilead, the rich arable plains of Moab, and the fervid subtropical vallej' of the Jortlan, can remain much longer neglected. Whether we regard it from an arclueoiijgical, .a commercial, or a political INTRODUCTION, XXXVU point of view, this territory possesses an interest and importance unrivalled by any tract of country of sim- ilar extent in Asiatic Turkey, It remains for Eng- land to decide whether she will undertake the task of exploring its ruined cities, of developing its vast agricultural resources, by means of the repatriation of that race which first entered into its possession three thousand years ago, and of securing the great political advantages which must accrue from such a policy, I have considered that it would be most judicious for the present to refrain from publishing the project of the charter of the company which I submitted to the Turkish Government, after it had l^een at their rocjuest carcfull)' framed and elabor- ated by their own law advisers in such a manner as should, in my oj:)inion, offer the most effectual guar- antees for the just and satisfactory administration of the colony, and the interests of the shareholders, without in any way infringing upon the sovereign rights of the Sultan ; but I hope and believe that it ina)' still form the basis upon which a company may Ije founded. If the result of my efforts to awaken that interest in the subject which it deserves, and the appeal which this book contains, meet \\ith the response which I anticipate, I shall be happy to co- oi)e)‘ate in any plan which may seem best calculated to carry it out. About the middle of February last year I left I'higland for Syria. THE LAND OF GILEAD. CHAPTER I. ARRIVAI, AT BF.YROITT — PREPARATIONS FOR THE START — SIDON — NAIIATIYEH — THE METAW ABIES — THEIR REBIGIOHS OBSERV- ANCES — THE MEECHITES THE CASTLE OF BELFORT — THE SCENERY OF THE LITANY THE MERJ AYUN — VIEW OF THE HULEH — CAPABir.lTlES OF THE PLAIN OF THE HULEH — RAIL- WAY FROM HAIFA TO DAMASCUS — TEL EL KADI — BANIAS. Almost immediately on arriving at Beyrout I met my friend and future fellow-traveller, Captain Owen Pliibbs, who had resided for four years in the country, through which he had travelled exten- sively. He was thoroughly conversant with the language, and with the manners and habits of the natives, and his great experience subsequently proved invaluable. His love of oriental research, habit of close observation, and familiarity with the country generally, rendered him a most agreeable and instructive companion ; and I was delighted A 2 THE LAND OF GILEAD. to find that he was free to undertake an expe- dition into a region which was new to him. He entered, moreover, warmly into the project which I had at heart, and which he considered to be both practicable and feasible ; and his opinion inclined towards the country to the east of the Jordan as the part of Palestine where I should be most likely to find such a tract of waste land as I de- sired. We therefore decided, provided that it was found to be practicable, to cross the Jordan at its sources, and traverse the whole region formerly occupied by the half- tribe of Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben, and then, crossing over to Jerusalem, return northwards through western Palestine. We should thus have an opportunity of skirting the Belad Beshara, a district in the extreme north of western Palestine, comprised in ancient times within the heritage of Asher and Naphtali, now chiefly occupied by a Metawaly population, and which might prove worth examination. I met no one at Beyrout who was personally acquainted with the Eastern country which we desired to traverse; and it was therefore not easy to obtain information — except from dragomans, who could not be relic ’ upon — as to the present mood of the Arabs who range over it, and the possi- bility of traversing it in safety. The impression prevailed that this could only be accomplished by considerable payments in the shape of black-rnail — PREPARATIONS FOR THE START. 3 a tax which we did not feel by any means disposed to incur. The best chance of avoiding it seemed to be to travel in the humblest and most unosten- tatious manner possible, to take scarcely any money with us, to throw ourselves upon the hospitality of the natives, and to trust to the chapter of accidents and our appearance of poverty to carry us through safely. We therefore decided upon putting only a few pounds in our pockets, taking no tents, and in- stead of a dragoman, a domestic of Captain Phibbs’s — who turned out a perfect treasure as cook and factotum — and one mule and muleteer for our united baggage, bedding, cooking utensils, and the articles of food which we thought it wise to take in case of necessity. These consisted of a few tins of preserved meat, some Liebig’s Extract, tea, coffee, sugar, a ham, some cheese, cakes of chocolate, a bottle of olives, dates, &c. We also took a bottle of spirits of wine and a spirit - lamp, which we found to be the greatest possible comfort ; a cup of hot tea, coming at the right moment, saves many a headache, if one is at all susceptible to the sun. H.M. Consul-General, Mr Eldridge, very kindly supplied us with a circular letter addressed to Turkish authorities and officials generally, Avhich insured us attention and civility whenever we came across them, and proved of great service to us. After the usual amount of haggling, the agree- ment was at last signed for the price of the mule. 4 THE LAND OF GILEAD. and a strong, active pony, for myself — Captain Phibbs’s stable supplying the other two animals — and we started for Sidon in the early part of March. At the end of our first day’s journey the muleteer pleaded so earnestly for an extra baggage-animal and boy to assist him and bear him company when we went too far ahead, that we added to our cortege, and ended by presenting a somewhat more wealthy and imposing appear- ance than we originally intended. We were hospitably entertained at Sidon by Mr Abela, from whom we obtained a good deal of in- teresting information, which all went to show that there was very little to be expected from the Bclad Beshara, where the land w'as not sufficiently rich, and the country too much occupied, to make it a desirable field for colonisation. We therefore gave up the idea of going as far south as Tibnin, the capital of the district, and decided on making Na- batiyeh the end of our first day’s journey from Sidon, and continuing from there in an easterly direction. Passing through productive gardens of orange, bananas, apricots, and olives, which surround the town, we deboucl-:d upon a fertile and extensive plain, stretching from the sea-shore to the base of the nearest range of hills, waving with young spring crops, which rows of Metawaly women were busily engaged in weeding; while the ruins of ancient DEPARTURE FROM SIDON. 5 Sidon, which in former days extended for miles from the walls of the present city, bore testimony to the vastness of the population which the great Phoenician mart had attracted to its neighbourhood. Now, the fragments of columns which had once supported temples and palaces were either used as Moslem tombstones, as rollers for the flat house- tops, or lie strewn over the fields or by the side of the road to Tyre, which skirts the shore. We turned off from this to the left in about an hour after leaving Sidon, riding through fields of wheat and beans to the base of the ridge, where the cultivation ceased, and ascended the barren and somewhat rocky slopes, covered with small grey prickly bushes of potcrium, until we reached the crest, from which a lovely coast -view was ob- tained, with Sidon embowered in gardens, and situated on a jutting promontory, in the distance. Traversing this range, which is of a chalk forma- tion, we descended into the valley of the Zaherani, or flowery vale, and crossed the stream by a ford. This valley was sparsely ^cultivated, but sustained its reputation in the matter of flowers, among the most abundant and beautiful of which were cycla- mens of various hues, besides iris, asphodels, and anemones. Here the steeper ascent of the second range began, and when we reached its summit we stopped at the Khan Mohammed Ali for luncheon. From this point we obtained our last view of the 6 THE LAND OF GILEAD. sea, and our first of Mount Hermon ; while immedi- ately above us, on our left, the Jebel Rihan reared its highest peak to an elevation of over 6000 feet. We now entered upon a very dreary, uninhabited, and uncultivated tract of country — indeed, we seemed to have left the population behind us when we left the coast; and from an agricultural point of view, there was nothing tempting in the district we were traversing. Nabatiyeh was a dry uninviting-looking village, containing about two hundred houses inhabited by Metawalies, and thirty or forty by Christians : the latter lived in a quarter by themselves. The houses are built of blocks of stone a foot square, generally without cement, and large masses lie strewn about in all directions, so that it is alto- gether a hard rocky-looking place, giving one the feeling of living in a quarry. Nevertheless there is a square in the middle, surrounded by arched storehouses and granaries ; and here every Sunday and Monday a fair is held. A fortnight before our arrival, the visitors at the fair, who camp out for the night between the Sunday and Monday, woke to find themselves in presence of an unusual and startling spcc*^acle ; and it still formed the staple topic of conversation in a village where events are rare. Hanging by the neck in the midst of them was a certain notorious character, by name Harab, a robber and murderer of some NABATIYEH, 7 celebrity. He was a Metawaly, a man who en- joyed some consideration among his own people, and inspired great terror among those who did not share his religious views. In consequence of the weakness of the central administration at Damas- cus, this man had been for long allowed to pursue his career of violence with impunity; but when Midhat Pasha assumed the reins of government, he determined to create a wholesome respect for law and order in the country by making a few examples. Therefore, when Harab shot a Druse, because some Metawaly women got alarmed at the j)resence of some Druses in their village, who were proved to have no evil intentions. Midhat Pasha hung him in the midst of his friends and relations ; and the result was, that we were enabled to travel through a country not usually famed for its tran- quillity, in peace and safety. Nevertheless there is a feud in consequence beUveen the Metawalies and Druses — or rather, an old-standing quarrel has been exacerbated ; but it will probably only sim- mer, and seems to be necessary as a sort of vent to let off superfluous steam. We took up our quarters in the house of a certain Hadji Mousa, who spread quilts and mats for us on his mud-floor. "1 he windows were on a level with it, and the doors are often made very small and low, so as to prevent tax - gatherers, zapiichs, or other enemies, from stabling their horses 8 THE LAND OF GILEAD. inside. After establishing ourselves here, and mak- ing arrangements for dinner, we went out to look about us, and scrape acquaintance with the people. We found the whole male population playing a game of ball in the square; but we were informed that they only represented a small proportion of what there should have been, as they had been drafted off in large numbers for the war, where they formed part of the regiments which had been sacrificed by Suleiman Pasha at the Shipka Pass, so that few were ever expected to return. We walked down to a fine spring which supplies the town with water, and which is full of sacred fish. Here were picturesque groups of Metawaly women, in the bright-coloured skirts which are a distinguish- ing characteristic of their attire, filling water-jars, and careless about covering their handsome faces beyond holding a corner of their veils in their •mouths. They were, for the most part, tall and graceful in figure, and their carriage was perfect. The Metawalies are much despised, and a good deal persecuted, by the Turks, on account of the heresy of their faith. They, like the Persians, are Shiites, but of a purer and more bigoted type. They are supposed by some to be the descendants of the aboriginal races formerly inhabiting Galilee of the Gentiles. In fact, they are, /ar excellence, the Gentiles, and still occupy in large numbers the extreme north of Palestine, which is called by the RELIGION OF THE METAWALIES. 9 modern name of Belad Beshara, and of which Tib- nin, which was formerly the Metawaly capital, is the chief town. In the days of their comparative greatness this was the seat of their leading family, called the house of Ali es Sughir. According to the Shia doctrine, they assign to Ali, the son-in- law of Mohammed, a rank equal or even superior to that of the prophet himself, considering him an incarnation of the Deity, and believing in the divine mission of the Imaums descended from him. Mehdi, the last of these, is believed by them not to have died, but to be awaiting in concealment the coming of the last day. In common with some of the Sunnis, they do not consider this event very remote, the orthodox Moslem doctrine being that on that day Christ will reappear to establish El Islam as the religion of the world ; with Him will re- appear Mehdi, the twelfth Imaum — who will then be known by the name of “ The Guide ’’ — and Anti- christ, or the beast of the earth ; while the peoples of Gog and Magog — whom some suppose to be the Russians — will burst the barrier beyond which they were banished by Alexander the Great. The end of all things will begin with the trumpet-blasts of the angel Asrafil. The first of these blasts will kill every living being, a second will waken the dead. In regard to their final expectation of what is likely to happen to them, the Shiites and Sunnis do not seem to differ very materially, though they lO THE LAND OF GILEAD* are very bitter in respect of their difference of opinion as to the past. I am indebted to Dr Wortabet of Beyrout, whose book on the religions of Syria is now un- fortunately out of print, for the following particu- lars of some of the peculiar customs of the Meta- walies : In prayer they perform their ablutions in a different way from the Mohammedans, using very little water. When they bow to the ground their heads are made to touch a small cake of earth, which they constantly carry with them for the pur- pose, made from the very spot where El Hosain, the son of Ali, and the Shiite martyr, was killed. If this cake happens to be lost, or not obtainable, they use a stone or some other material to remind them of the holy earth on which his blood was shed. Unlike the Moslems, each prays singly. At the hour of prayer all articles of clothing in which gold is wrought, and gold or silver rings and watches, are laid aside. Many of these rites and ceremonies are also practised by the Persian Shiites ; but they have a remarkable form of marriage peculiar to themselves, which they call the “ marriage of privilege.” It is a legal and regular engagemer' with the usual gift of dowry, but on the strange condition that the marriage tie shall continue for a specified time only — say a year or a month. When the stipulated term expires, the conjugal relaaon ceases absolutely, unless it be METAWALY MARRIAGES. II renewed according to the ordinary and permanent form. The engagement takes place generally with a widow, the thing being impossible with a married woman whose husband is yet alive, and quite im- possible with a virgin, who cannot be blind to the disadvantages of such an arrangement. When chil- dren are the fruit of such a marriage, the father is bound in every case to maintain them. They have also a form of nominal marriage, which they call the “ engagement of interdiction.” The proceedings are regular throughout, except the definite stipulation that the husband can have the privilege of only seeing his wife — the design of this being to gain free access to a young woman, and her immediate female relatives, in order to wait upon them, confer with them on matters of business, &c., which a stranger could not otherwise obtain. The nominal or interdicted wife can marry at any time without a permission or divorce from her quondam husband, lly these convenient modes of marriage, facilities are offered for a man and a widow to go together on a pilgrimage to Mecca, or some other travelling tour, at the termination of which the bond is dissolved ; and so, when a man goes with a female who will not consent to be his wife of “ privilege,” the matter can be easily arranged by his nominal marriage with her daughter or mother. They avoid, however, these marriages as far as possible, in order to (■scape the sarcasm and odium of other sects — 12 THE LAND OF GILEAD. especially the Mohammedans — on their way to the Holy Places. In the course of our ramble we got into con- versation with a Christian youth — or, to speak more accurately, a youth who professed the dogmas of the Melchite sect calling itself Christian. They are schismatics from the “orthodox” Greek Church, who joined the Church of Rome about a hundred years ago. They, however, still retain their inde- pendence in some particulars ; they celebrate Mass in Arabic, administer the sacrament in both kinds, and their priests may be married men, though they may not marry after ordination. They are governed by a patriarch at Damascus, and to this sect belong the wealthiest and most aristocratic of the Christians. Our informant told us that all the Christians at Nabatiyeh were Melchites, and that they lived on terms of perfect harmony with the Metawalies ; indeed, Christian sects as a rule, botli in European and Asiatic Turkey, hate each other far more than they do the Mohammedans. At the same time, the Metawalies were very strict in protecting themselves against defilement, and are far more particular in this respect in their rela- tions with Christian*; than Sunnis. For instance, they will not eat meat or bread or anything damp, or drink water that has been touched by a Christian. Our Melchite friend told us that if he asked for a drink from one of his Metawaly fellow- METAWALIES AND MELCHITES. 13 townsmen, he was not allowed to take the pitcher by the handle or to touch the spout with his lips, but was compelled to hold it with both hands by the bottom, and then pour the water down his throat. The Metawalies do not allow the bread of the Gentiles to be baked in the same ovens which they use. They will not touch a stranger if his clothes happen to be wet with water, nor even allow him to enter their houses while in this state, e.xcept in cases of extreme urgency, and then often not without considerable difficulty. In eating with others, which they are sometimes compelled to do, they arc careful not to eat from the same side of the plate ; and after the meal is over, they purify themselves from the contracted defilement by pour- ing water over their mouths. If the Metawalies would only carry their principles of purification a little further, they would derive material, as well possibly as spiritual, benefits from it, for they are among the dirtiest and most squalid of religious sects in the East, and that is saying a good deal. The men have a particular way of shaving under the cheek-bone and chin, leaving the rest of the beard to grow. This, probably, has a religious origin, though their love of bright-coloured garments suggests that vanity may have something to do with it. The Metawalies number about 80,000 souls, and are not by any means confined to this district. I came across their villages afterwards on the H THE LAND OF GILEAD. eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon, to the north of Damascus, and they extend in that direction even as far as lioms. In former days, Baal bee was their principal town in the Buka’a, where they were governed by the family of Harafoost, notorious for their crimes as highwaymen. I have also seen their villages on the crests of the Lebanon, in the Maronite district ; and everywhere they possess, in spite of the strictness with which they observe the rites and ceremonies of their re- ligion, a most unenviable character as thieves and robbers. I asked my Christian friend why they were all playing ball instead of working, but he said that both Metawalies and Christians had no agricultural work on hand. They had planted their crops, and they had nothing to do now but idle and amuse themselves till it was time to reap them. He ad- mitted that he himself had done no work of any sort for a month. The Metawalies feel a strong, secret dislike to the Turkish Government; and not- withstanding the outward professions of loyalty which they make, all their secret sympathies are with the Persians, to whose country they look as the strong- hold of their religion and the bulwark of their faith. In the Belad Besha a, where we now were, they are governed by Beys of their own sect, by whom, how- ever, they are treated in a very arbitrary manner, and without much regard to the laws of the land. All cases of civil law among them are settled, by CASTLE OF BELFORT. 15 the sufTerance of the Turkish Government, according to the principles of Shiite jurisprudence, for which they have lawyers of their own, and a Mufti ap- pointed by the Governor of Beyrout. They believe that they have among them the veritable descend- ants of Hassan and Hosain, the sons of Ali. Both branches reside in the Belad Beshara, and the valid- ity of their claims is recognised in Persia. These families wear the green turban, are extremely sanc- timonious, and are treated with great respect by the Mctawalics, out of veneration for their illustrious origin. Indeed, their most illustrious sheikh and spiritual chief was said to reside not far from Nabatiyeh. Our beds on Hadji Mousa’s mud-floor, though tolerably free from, vermin, were not so soft and comfortable as to tempt us to prolong the night unnecessarily, and we had swallowed our coffee and were in the saddle shortly after daylight. In an hour and a half we reached the precipitous crest of the valley of the Litany, upon the edge of which, a few minutes to the right of the road, stands the old crusading castle of Belfort, a most picturesque and commanding feature of the scenery for miles round. The building is 130 yards long from north to south, and 33 yards wide. The walls are still standing, and average from 60 to 80 feet in height ; they are built for upwards of 100 yards along the verge of a cliff, which rises quite perpendicularly from the bed of the l6 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Litany, 1500 feet below. The castle itself is 2200 feet above the level of the sea, and can be approached only by a narrow ridge or neck from one direction, so that under the old conditions of warfare it was practically impregnable. Nevertheless Saladin, after a siege of a year, compelled the garrison, under Raynold of Sidon, to surrender. Other travellers have, however, described this ruin so fully, that I will spare the reader any further details. We were now within the ancient limits of Pales- tine, and in territory which had been occupied by the tribe of Asher. Although the portion assigned to it extended far to the north along the crests of the Lebanon, they never seem actually to have pos- sessed land much to the north of Nabatiyeh, which may have been one of the frontier towns ; but the northern border of Palestine is extremely undefined, and it is difficult to determine what were the exact limits of Asher. The castle of Belfort is supposed by some to be the Achshaph mentioned in Joshua as one of the frontier towns. At all events, the Litany was the dividing line between Asher and Naphtali, and on crossing that stream we found ourselves in the heritage of the latter. There are no means of scrambling down the pre- cipitous crags upon which the castle of Belfort is perched, to the river, and even the circuitous road by which we descended to the bridge was steep enough to make walking more desirable than riding. SCENERY OF THE LITANY. 17 The view over the stupendous gorge through which the Litany forces its way to the sea, with Mount Hermon in the background, the southern spurs of the Lebanon and Jebel Rihan to the left, and the castle crowning the giddy height on the right, was magnificent ; and it was a marvel to me that tourists on their way from Jerusalem to Damascus, should continue to wander on a beaten track, amid inferior scenery, when a day’s journey from it would bring them to a spot where the grandest features of nature are so intimately blended with the associations of history and romance. The modern name of Belfort is Kalat esh Shekif ; and we now left the district, or Belad esh Shekif, of which Nabatiyeh is the chief place, and crossed the Litany or “ Accursed,” now yellow and turbid, by a picturesque bridge — the Jisr el Khardeli. We turned sharp ofif to the right, from the principal road which leads to Hasbeya and Rasheya, and ascending the other side of the valley, crossed the ridge into the Merj Ayun, a level plain surrounded by hills, eight or ten miles long, and from three to four wide — at the period of our visit an unbroken expanse of wheat, beans, and lentils. It is one of the richest tracts of country in Syria, and was formerly cultivated by the tribe of Naphtali, and was then called Ijon. It was taken on two occasions, — first by Ben-hadad, King of Syria, at the instiga- tion of Asa, King of Judah; and on the second occasion by Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria. It is B i8 THE LAND OF GILEAD. now owned chiefly by Sidonlans. On the western slope is situated the village of Jedeideh. We did not enter it, but I think I should have made an effort to do so had I known the peculiar characteristic of the inhabitants. Let any man who knows enough of Arabic to be independent of a dragoman, and who wants a guide, apply to the inhabitants of Jedeideh. They are the carriers of the country ; and there is no remote hamlet in Palestine, and scarcely an Arab encampment to the east of the Jordan, at any rate on this side of the Derb el Hadj, with which they are not familiar. We were perpetually meeting them trudging behind their loaded mules, in parties of two or three, throughout our travels, and came at last to look upon “Jedeideh men” as a link with civilisation. Skirting the southern edge of the Merj Ayun, we passed out of it at the Druse village of Metulleh. This, with the exception of two on Mount Carmel, is the most southerly settlement of the Druses, and was the scene a few years ago of a tragedy in which thirty persons were massacred, under circumstances not very creditable to the Government — who, it appears, feared at the time a Druse rising. The sheikh who was supposed to be the dangerous person, and whose capture was the object of the onslaught, however, effected his escape. At this point a new and most enchanting view burst upon us. At our feet lay the plain of the VIEW OF THE HULEH. 19 Huleh, looking far more fertile and productive than it really is, as much of it is marsh and waste land, that might, however, easily be reclaimed. But sur- rounded as it is with a girdle of noble mountains, with the blue and tranquil waters of Merom gleam- ing in the midst of a setting of richest green, and the Jordan winding away in the distance, as seen from the hills to the north, it is without doubt one of the most attractive views in Palestine. One can hardly wonder at the men of Dan, when they came upon it, being fascinated by the luxuriance of the landscape and its charm of position, and then and there deciding to oust the existing peasantry, and occupy as much of it themselves as had not been already appropriated by the tribe of Naphtali. I felt a longing to imitate their example ; for there can be no question that if, instead of advancing upon it with six hundred men, and taking it by force, after the manner of the Danites, one approached it in the modern style of a joint-stock company (limited), and recompensed the present owners, keeping them as labourers, a most profitable speculation might be made out of the “ Ard el Huleh.” The lake itself, which was first sounded and surveyed by Mr M ‘Gregor in the Rob Roy canoe, has an average depth Oi only eleven feet, and is four miles long by three and a half wide. It might, together with the marshy plain above it, be easily drained ; and a magnificent tract of country, nearly twenty miles 20 THE LAND OF GILEAD. long by from five to six miles in width, abundantly watered by the upper affluents of the Jordan, might thus be brought into cultivation. It is only now occupied by some wandering Bedouins and the peas- ants of a few scattered villages on its margin. At present it is unhealthy, and at certain seasons of the year fever-stricken ; but there can be no doubt that, with drainage and cultivation, it might be made as salubrious as any other part of the country. It would be on by far the most desirable line of railway from Damascus to the coast, and lies itself at an elevation of about 270 feet above the level of the sea. A railway from here to Haifa, by way of Tiberias and the plain of Esdraelon, might be constructed at a com- paratively small cost, as it is almost a dead level the whole way ; while the continuation to Damascus would only involve one engineering difficulty — that of carrying it from the plain of the Huleh to the plateau above Banias. The line, however, has re- cently been carefully surveyed by Mr Charles Austin, C.E., who considers it a very practicable route for a railway. There is, indeed, none other which can be compared with this for connecting the cajjital of Syria and the grain-producing region of the Hauran with Haifa or Acre, which is the present port of export. The greater part of the plain of Huleh is at the disposal of the Government, and the remainder could be obtained at a price far below its real value. Any railway company obtaining and reclaiming this 21 “THE MEADOW ON THE WATERS.” % tract would be in possession of a property, after the railway was made, which would go far towards cover- ing the original cost of the line. Descending from Metulleh, we left the Christian village of Abil about a mile to our right. This was Abel of Beth-maachah, where Sheba was over- taken by Joab (2 Sam. xx. 14, 15), and the city was saved by the intervention of a wise woman, who pacified the besieger by throwing the head of his enemy to him over the wall. The inhabitants of the city in those days were so celebrated for their wisdom, that the saying, “Thou shalt surely ask counsel at Abel," had passed into a proverb. It is doubtless identical with the Abel-maim, or “ the meadow on the waters,” mentioned in 2 Chron. xvi. 4, as having suffered from the raids of the Syrian and Assyrian kings, and was a place of such im- portance that it was styled “a city and a mother in Israel.” We now made for the bridge of El Ghajar, which crosses the Hasbany, the northern tributary, and by some considered the chief source of the Jordan. My friend knew the country .so well that, although we had no guide, we ventured on short cuts, and soon found ourselves in a Bedouin encampment, which we came upon unexpectedly, as it was concealed in a hollow. The country here was somewhat rough and uncultivated, and is used by the Arabs as grazing- ground for their sheep and camels. Buffalo are also 22 THE LAND OF GILEAD. largely used in the plain of the Huleh for agricultural purposes. We found these Arabs, who are of the Ghawarini tribe, perfectly good-natured and peaceable, though they bear a somewhat doubtful reputation ; and in the case of Mr M'Gregor, of Rob Roy celeb- rity, and more recently of an American lady and gentleman, whom they plundered in this immediate vicinity, they seem to have been unable to resist their lawless propensities. Crossing the Hasbany Jordan by the picturesque old bridge, we found our- selves in the territory of Dan, and in less than an hour after reached the Tel el Kadi, or mound which was the site of the ancient city of Dan. We rested under the shade of the magnificent tree which overhangs this source of the Jordan, and took a plunge and a swim in the fountain as it wells out of the earth with the volume of a full-grown stream. It was an interesting locality, as no doubt whatever hangs over its identity, and there is scarcely another spot in Palestine of equal antiquity of which the same can be said, for it dates far beyond the arrival of the children of Dan, with the idolatrous worship and somewhat irregular priesthood which they estab- lished here. We are informed that they called the name of the city Da; , after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel. “ liowbeit, the name of the city was Laish at the first : ” but we find that, according to the Biblical chronology, it was called Dan five hundred years before this event ; for BANIAS. 23 we are told that when Abram heard of the capture of Lot, “ he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” Moses, too, from the top of Mount Pisgah, was shown “all the land of Gilead unto Dan,” fifty years prior to the capture of Laish by the Danitcs, and the consequent change of name. The explanation of this apparent contradiction is probably to be found in the hypothesis that the Pentateuch was revised and partially rewritten after the establishment of the children of Israel in the Holy Land. We were now on the beaten track of the tourist and traveller from Jerusalem to Damascus, and put up for the night at Banias, a spot full of historical association, but which has been too often and elabo- rately described to need any ample notice here. The ancient Caesarea Philippi, it is supposed to have been the most northern point visited by Christ, and one in which He found Himself surrounded by the temples and shrines of an idolatrous worship most repulsive in its character; for here were celebrated the rites sacred to the god Pan, from which the city took its name : and, to judge by the extensive remains which still exist, and the records of its great- ness if.d beauty, it must have been one of the most gorgeous centres of mythological superstition. The village, which seems almost buried among the ruins that surround it, is a poor squalid-looking place. 24 THE LAND OF GILEAD. built partially with the huge carved blocks of stone which once adorned the walls of temples or palaces, while fragments of columns or their capitals are abun- dantly strewn around. We were kindly received by the old Sheikh Ismail ; but unfortunately his hospi- tality was not limited to ourselves. First arrived a handsome Druse sheikh, apparently a great friend of our host’s, for they embraced with great demonstra- tions of affection, and kissed each other on both cheeks. Then came a soldier, or rather a sub- ordinate officer, who had been at Plevna, and who showed us with pride two bullet-holes in his leg. Then arrived three visitors of distinction from a distant village ; and when night came we found, to our dismay, that they were all beginning to say their prayers and make their beds on the opjoosite side of the room we had fondly hoped had been placed exclusively at our disposal. Their idea of going to bed consisted simply of stretching them- selves on the floor, throwing off their outside gar- ment, and getting under a quilt ; and they watched with some interest our more elaborate arrangements. As for sleep, it proved out of the question : each one of the five either snored, or moaned, or puffed, or talked in his sleep ; and these noises, diversified with the inces:.ant barking of dogs and a slight sprink- ling of fleas, kept me awake, and indeed to some extent occupied, until the first streak of dawn war- BAN IAS. 25 ranted me in waking my companion and rousing the household generally. An early start was the more necessary, for we were now about to dive into the wilderness beyond Jordan, and our information as to the number of hours it would take us to reach our night-quarters was somewhat vague. 26 CHAPTER II. AIX FIT AN ANSARIYEH VILLAGE THE SHEIKH’s HOUSE HIS RETICENCE ORIGIN OF THE ANSARIYEH IIIE FOUNDER OK THE SECT THEIR RELIGIOUS TENETS THEIR SOCIAL DIVI- SIONS MARRIAGE AND OTHER CEREMONIES JOURNEY TO KUNEITEREH A CIRCASSIAN COLONY KUNETTEREII — MEDJ- LISS AT THE CAIMAKAM’S PRESENT CONDITION AND PROS- PECTS OF I’HE CIRCASSIAN COLONISTS. As far as Banias we had required no guide. Captain Phibbs was so Intimately acquainted with the country, that we had not only found our way here without difficulty, but had even made the rash experiment of a short cut successfully. Now, however, we were getting into country rarely visited by any traveller, in regard to which there were the usual exaggerated stories of marauding Bedouins, of the necessity of an escort, and so forth. Fortunately, we had no dragoman to invent impossible dangers for the pur- pose of sharing the bh ck-mail afterwards with the Arab chief, who is put up to demanding it— nor had we a loncf caravan of mules laden with tents and baggage, to tempt the needy nomade ,* but we jogged humbly and unostentatiously behind a guide we AIN FIT. 27 picked up at Banias, who said he knew the way to Kuneitereh, followed by Hanna, our trusty cook, mounted on a bright little Arab, and the two mule- teers riding their lightly-loaded animals. We passed out of Banias by its southern gate — a massive and very handsome structure, on which is an Arabic inscription, though the walls are in fact very ancient — and crossed the brook of the Wady Za’areh by a stone bridge, which is also partly ancient, and in the walls of which were several granite columns, and followed a path a little to the east of south, which gradually beg^n to ascend the range which forms the eastern side of the Jordan valley. We here left the territory of Dan, and entered that of the half-tribe of Manasseh. After a gradual ascent of an hour, we reached the An- sariyeh village of Ain Fit. As this was the only opportunity we should have of seeing any of the members of this remarkable sect, who for the most part inhabit the little -known mountains between Tripoli and Antioch, we determined to make a short halt here, and try to make acquaintance with some of the inhabitants. The village was so unutterably squalid, that it was difficult to determine by any external indication which was the abode of the sheikh o' leading man. The streets were narrow lanes winding between low mud-walls that enclosed small courtyards containing hovels which were gen- erally devoid of any apertures but a low door, and 28 THE LAND OF GILEAD. a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape. The women were, as usual, collected round the spring, and carrying water-jars; the men were squatting in groups on their heels, where the lanes were wide enough to admit of their doing so, gossiping and staring vacantly at our cavalcade. They showed no inclination to be hospitable, and when we pulled up and dismounted, looked rather disgusted than otherwise. We forced our way, however, unabashed, into the courtyard that contained the two or three miserable huts which, we were informed, belonged to the sheikh ; and fastening our horses — leaving them carefully watched, for the Ansariyeh are no- torious pilferers — we almost forced the sheikh to appear and receive us, and invite us into his house. It consisted of a single windowless room, in which there was a small charcoal-fire and two threadbare carpets. In common decency, the sheikh was obliged to offer us coffee ; but as he seemed rarely to indulge in that luxury, it had to be first roasted, then pounded, and then made. This was a long opera- tion, and gave us the time we wanted to talk to him. As the Ansariyeh are prohibited by their religion from smoking, we could not return his civility by offering him tobacco. Two or three men of the village now came in, but suspicion and moroseness were the order of the day ; and it was not to be wondered at, considering the extreme con- tempt in which the Ansariyeh are held, both by Mo- AN ANSARIYEH VILLAGE. 29 hammedan and Christian, and the open manner in which the popular aversion is expressed. When we told our guide we wanted to stop in the village, he said, “ What is the use of stopping among pigs, who don’t fast, and don’t pray, and have got no god ? ” Perhaps, also, the reticence of our host may have been caused by the presence of a Bedouin and a Druse, who happened to be in the village when we arrived, and whose curiosity tempted them to follow us into the hut. Under these circumstances the sheikh, when he did speak, seemed more inclined to ask than to answer questions. The first inquiry he made was whether we had brought our harems with us. This might possibly have been with a view to trade, for the Ansariyeh have no idea of a woman except as a marketable animal without a soul, and their marriages are all distinct sales for money down, and not indirect ones, as they so often are with us. However, he said nothing to our reply in the negative, but seemed for some time lost in thought at the anomaly of men wander- ing about alone without women, so that it is im- possible to say what train of ideas prompted the question. Then he asked us if English soldiers were not on their way to Damascus. He said he had btca told that they were expected to arrive there in a few days. We assured him that there was no truth in the statement ; but it was evidently one which others had heard as well as the sheikh. 30 THE LAND OF GILEAD. and several questions were put as to the probability of a British occupation of the country. The Druse seemed particularly interested, and the others re- marked of him, that they considered him an English- man. “ Druses and English are the same as one,” they said — an observation which the Druse evidently regarded as a compliment, and seemed by his man- ner to wish to make it apparent that his relations to us were different from those of the others ; in fact, we felt rather patronised by him than otherwise. The sheikh told us that there were two other An- sariyeh villages in the immediate neighbourhood, and that the total population of the three amounted to about looo souls ; that they had been settled in this part of the country for about 800 years, and did not keep up much intercourse with their co- religionists in the north of Syria. The presence of the others made it very difficult to do more than talk generalities ; but under no circumstances would it have been possible to extract any information in regard to his religious belief, or even the social habits of the people. They are, if possible, more secret than the Druses in their mysticism, and to some extent profess Mohammedanism as a matter of convenience, and a cloak to conceal their real culte. [ 3 S 5 Some say that the Ansariyeh spring from the Carmathians, a mystic sect, who, after the death, in .323 of the Hegira, of Abou Tahir, their last great THE ANSARIYEH. 31 chief, rapidly broke up, and soon ceased as a king- dom, the most fanatic of his followers taking refuge in the mountains now named after them ; others, that they are a remnant of some of the old Canaanitish races that fled before Israel in the days of Joshua. They themselves advance, in proof of this origin, the fact that the name of Canaan is still so common among them, and that they have their traditions concerning Samaria, narrating that the Samaritans had found a refuge among them. The name of a Jew is exceeding hateful to them; while, notwith- standing the fact that Christianity so soon found a footing in Antioch, it seems never to have pene- trated into the Ansariyeh mountains close by. There can be little doubt, from the difference of type that exists among them, that they are now of mixed race ; they themselves have a tradition of an Eastern infusion, and I imagined that in the women’s coun- tenances especially I saw indications of Tartar blood. This was very slight, and their features were for the most part regular and Grecian, clearly distinguish- able from the natives of the country. Some, how- ever, in their northern mountains, are said to have negro features, and crisp, curly hair ; but I did not see any specimens of these. The Ansariyeh, according to Gregory, surnamed Bar I lebrajus, and called in Arabic Abulfaradj, take their name from an old man who appeared in the year of vhe Hegira 270 (a.d. 891), in the region of 32 THE LAND OF GILEAD, Akab (which Assemani, in his ‘ Bibliotheca Orientalis,’ considers identical with Kufa), in a village which the inhabitants call Nazaria. This old man, called Nusair, probably after the village, appears to have been the son of a slave of Ali, the son of Aboii Taleb. His son, Abou Shuaib, was the first great apostle, and was a pupil of Hassan il Askere, the father of the last Imaum, and the chief authority of the sect. Nusair himself declared he had seen Christ in a vision, and the formula in which he announces it runs as follows:* “I, such an one, commonly believed to be the son of Othman of the town of Nazaria, saw Christ, who is Jesus, who is also the Word, and the Director, and Ahmed the son of Mohammed, the son of Hemaphia, of the sons of Ali, the same also is the angel Gabriel ; and he said to me, ‘ Thou art the Reader, thou art the Truth. Thou art the Camel that retainest anger against the infidels. Thou art the Heifer bearing the yoke of the believers. Thou art the Spirit. Thou art John^Nthe son of Zacharias. Preach, therefore, to men that they kneel four times in their prayers — twice before sunrise, twice after sunset — toward J erusalem, saying each time these three verses : God is sublime above all — God is high above all — God is the greatest of all. On the second and si.xth festival let no man do any work ; let them fast two days every year; let them abstain from Moham- ^ Wo* tabet’s Researches into the Religions of Syria. FOUNDER OF THE ANSARIYEH. 33 medan ablution; let them not drink strong drink, but of wine as much as tjiey please; let them not eat of the flesh of wild beasts/ Nazar then went to Palestine, where he infected the simple and rustic people with his absurd doctrines. Then departing, he hid himself; nor is his place known to this day.” According to Williarh of Tyre, he was imprisoned for spreading these doctrines ; escaped, and attributed his escape to miraculous agency ; chose twelve dis- ciples, abolished circumcision and the observance of the Ramadan, and finally founded the mystical sect now called after him. Assemani gives the following account of this miraculous escape ; I'he Governor of Kufa, hearing of his doctrines, “ commanded to apprehend him; and having cast him into a dun- geon in his own house, swore that on the following morning he would have him crucified. On the same night the governor, going to bed half intoxicated with wine, placed the key of the dungeon under his pillow : a maid of the household perceiving this, when he was fast asleep withdrew l;he key ; and pitying this old man given to fasting and prayer, opened the dungeon, set him at liberty, and then re- stored the key to its former place. The governor, going in the morning to the dungeon, and opening it with the same key, and finding no person, imagined the culprit to have been miraculously removed ; and as the maid, through fear, kept silence as to what she had done, the report spread abroad that the old jnan C 34 THE LAND OF GILEAD. had escaped from prison while the doors were shut. A short time after, having found two of his disciples in a distant country, he contrived to persuade them that he had been delivered by angels from the prison and conveyed to a desert place." I am indebted to Captain Phibbs, who had travelled over the northern part of Syria, and gained much information about the Ansariyeh, for the following particulars, none of which seem to have come to the knowledge of Mr Walpole, who, in his book on ‘The Ansariyeh,’ published in 1851, gives us absolutely no information in regard to their peculiar manners and customs, and the mysteries of their faith, though he seems to have spent some time among them, and professes to have penetrated all the secrets of their religion. Captain Phibbs was kind enough to place at my disposal his translation of an Arabic pamphlet by a native author, who apparently had exceptional means of becoming acquainted with the Ansariyeh belief. From this it would appear that the An.sariyeh are divided into four tribes : the Kelaziat, who worship the moon ; the Shemaliat, or Northerns, who worshijj the host of heaven ; the Ribyiat, who worship the air (evi- dently from a word meaning to know secret things or hidden mysteries) ; and the Mouwachesat, who worsnip the dawn, "' hey all believe in the divinity of Ali, the son of Abou Taleb, and to him ascribe all the attributes of the Godhead. They also accept the doctrine of metempsychosis. Their religion fur- TENETS OF THE ANSARIYEH. 35 ther consists in a knowledge of the mystery of A, M. S., the initial letters for Ali-Mohammed- Suleiman (the Persian), the same who is honoured by the Druses. These three arc further called “ the Meaning,” “the Name,” and “the Door,” — i.e., Ali, All in All (the Meaning), was, manifested in Moham- med (the Name), and made known by Suleiman (the Door). According to the tribe who worship the dawn, the sun is Ali ; according to the Kela- ziat, he is the moon. All the incarnations who have appeared on earth at various times have been different manifestations of the mystic Trinity. Previously, the Ansariyeh lived in the Milky Way m the heavens, but failing in their adoration to Ali, were cast down to the earth. All their energies are now turned to getting back again there, and their ideas of the future life seem to have much in com- mon with modern spiritualists. In fact, it would seem that the initiated are somewhat given to mediumship. Among them, as among the Druses, there are two classes — the initiated and tlie un- initiated. A service in which wine is drunk, and also poured on the ground, takes place on the initiation of a new member. Unlike the Druses, however, where women are constantly allowed to take the liulicst grade, women among me Ansariyeh are never admitted to religious meetings, though certain ceremonies in which they must of necessity bear a v* y important part, lake place. These are 36 THE LAND OF GILEAD. symbolical of the origin of man, and the productive powers of nature, which are highly honoured and considered sacred among them. In this they have much that was common to the Gnostics of the early Church, and, indeed, we are carried back by it to the earliest worship of which we have any record in this country — that of Baal and Ashtaroth. Their relig- ious meetings take place in secret, at sacred tombs called Mazars, and are shrouded in mystery — false- hood and deception towards the outer world being inculcated and practised, so that, if circumstances require it, any other religion may for the time being be outwardly professed by them. Should any of their number divulge their mysteries, it is certain that he would be assassinated ; and from this fact probably arises the name which has been popularly but erroneously bestowed upon them, of Assassins, Avhich more properly belongs to the Ismailians or Hashishins, to whom, however, they are closely allied. That they are, in fact, an offshoot from the Druse sect, may be gathered from the following citation from the Druse Catechism : — “ How have the Ansari3^eh separated themselves from the Unitarians [Druses], and abandoned the Unitarian religion ? “ They have separated themselves in following the teaching of Nusair, who said he was the ser- vant of our Lord, the Prince of true believers, who denied the divinity of one Lord Hakim, and made TENETS OF THE ANSARIYEH. 37 profession of believing in the divinity of Ali, son of Abou Taleb." The Ansariyeh celebrate the Christian rite of sacrament, as will appear from the following quo- tation from their Catechism : — “ Q. What, is the great mystery of God? “ Af. The flesh and the blood, of which Jesus has said. This is my flesh and my blood ; eat and drink thereof, for it is eternal life. “ Q. What is the mystery of the faith of the Unitarians? What is the secret of secrets, and chief article of the true believers ? “A. It is the veiling of our Lord in light that is in the eye of the Sun, and His manifestation in His servant, Abd in Noor.”' The sheikhs among the Ansariyeh are equal in number almost to the Fellaheen or peasants, and play somewhat the same role as the Ukkuls among the Druses. They instruct the people in their re- ligion, and preserve them from harm by providing ^ Since the alDove was in type I have had an opportunity of con- sulting the v'ery interesting and elaborate account given of the Ansariyeh and their religion by the. late Rev. Mr Lyde, who resided for some time among them in their northern mountains Tlie Asian Mystery.’ by the Rev. Samuel Lyde). This is the best, and indeed only, analysis of their tenets which, so far as I am aware, has ever been giv»'n to the public, and in the main conlirms the information furnishei’ mr by Captain Phibbs. The close com.ection which exists between the Ansariyeh and Druse religions ’s made very evident, and there car. be no doubt that the esoteric character of both conceals a far higher tlieolop;ical sy.stem than is apparent to the uninitiated inciuirer. 38 THE LAND OF GILEAD. amulets and charms on which a verse of the Koran is written — “ There is no power and strength but in God the most High, the Almighty. O Ali, the all- powerful One!” They are supposed to have the power of curing diseases and madness, and are sup- ported by lands set apart in a manner similar to the Wakouf lands among the orthodox Moslems. Woe to any unfortunate peasant who does not bestow due honour upon them, or who should consult a physician Avithout previously obtaining their permission : should he even speak a word against them, his life would be in danger. The sheikhs are distinguished by a white turban worn round their tarboosh, and called a shasha. The second class is called the Mukkadameen. To them beloncf the rest of the land that is not set apart as Wakouf, and they exercise the chief authority — forests, lands, and houses all being under their con- trol. They take all the produce, the peasant being barely allowed enough to keep body and soul to- gether. ■ They are invariably the perpetrators of all murders and highway robberies, or else share a part of the plunder ; and in the event of the Government following up a thief or murderer, they afford him protection, and facilitate his escape if necessary. The Mukkadameen v\ear a tarboosh with a long, broad, and hea‘. y tassel, a wide waist-belt of §ilk, and are never without arms of some sort. The third class arc the Fellaheen. They are no better than the slaves of the sheikhs and Mukkada- ANSARIYEH CUSTOMS. 39 meen, all the fruit of their labours being taken from them, so that in many instances they are barely clothed, and subsist on roots and wild herbs, — at best their heads are covered with a felt skull-cap, and their bodies with a long cotton shirt as their only garment, with a belt round the waist, of wool, hair, or leather. This, too, is the only dress of the peas- ant women, though among those we saw at Ain Fit some were clothed in long dresses of bright colours, and seemed tolerably well off. Their position soci- ally, however, is degraded in the extreme, and it is said there is no race in the world by whom the women are worse treated than by the Ansariyeh. On the birth of a female child, it is put aside in a corner of the house in a wicker-basket, and covered with a torn cloth, and there left unclothed, without nourishment, exposed, it may be, to the cold wind. Those who survive this treatment are naturally of a strong constitution, and capable of supporting the fatigue and privation they have to undergo* for the rest of their lives. At an early age they arc sent to carry water from the fountain, and take the goats out to pasture, or bring in a load of firewood. Curses and blows are all that a girl receives from her father and brothers ; and this treatment continues till she is sou^ iit for as a, wife, when she is sold for a sum varying from five to fifty pounds. No religious ser- vice takes place at marriage. The purchase-money having ’ een paid, the bride is brought to the bride- 40 THE LAND OF GILEAD. groom’s house by her family and friends. He with his friends await her approach, and mounting the roof of the house as tlie bride enters the doorway, he strikes her two blow.s, one on the right side, and the other on the left, as a foretaste of what she is to expect if disobedient, and as a proof of her being under his subjection. If the marriage takes place among the peasants, a tenth of the money paid by the bridegroom goes to the chief or IMukkadam of the district : even should the marriage take place at a distance, the money has still to be paid to the Mukkadam of the district where the bride was born. No woman can inherit anything in the way of land, moiic)", or goods on the death of her husband or any relative. She is looked upon merely as a means of production, and for service in the house. It is not lawful to instruct her in religion, excepting in one short prayer, the words of which convey no meaning : for the An- sariyeh tsay that woman is of the seed of Satan the accursed, the enemy of God, and to reveal to her tlie secret of their faith would be the same as to reveal it to Satan ; and any man among them who attem])ts to instruct a woman is considered an arcli-enemy and opponent oi the Almighty. Ihirial takes place immediately on decease, at times even before the body has ceased to breatlie. Bread is then broken and eaten over the new-made grave ; and seven days afterwards, the nearest relation of the ANSARIYEH CUSTOMS. 41 deceased has to provide a feast for all comers. If too poor, his relatives and neighbours assist with provisions, and much firing of guns and beating of drums goes on. As the soul is supposed to leave the body by the mouth, that is kept open with great care; and in case of criminals in the hands of the authorities, sentenced to be hung, their friends have been known to beg as a great favour that they might be impaled instead. In the event of lawsuits, they never appeal to the Government, but invariably settle them among them- selves — an appeal to the Mukkadam or chief being final ; but that being costly, they prefer calling in arbitrators among themselves. The Ansariyeh are lazy and talkative, excepting about matters concerning their faith, indiscretion in regard to which they visit with severe punishment — as in the case of Soloman the Adanite, author of the work on their religion, after he became a Protestant, who, having imprudently ventured to return to the neighbourhood of his own town, Adana, speedily came to an untimely end. Every sort of subterfuge is resorted to by the Ansariyeh to avoid the conscription, in which they in a great measure succeed, through bribes given to the recLCning officer. In their own mountains, the different tribes and villages are constantly fighting among themselves ; and tin e quarrels involve a great destruction of 42 THE LAND OF GILEAD. crops and other property, thus increasing the gen- eral misery and poverty which characterise the race. Their total number is estimated at 200,000 souls. It is worthy of notice that, in the year a.d. 1128, the castle and town of Banks, and the surrounding country, fell into the hands of the kindred sect of Ismailians or Assassins, as the Ansariyeh are often also called, and became the centre of their power in Syria, until they transferred it, twelve years later, to Massiat. At this time they entered into an alliance with the Crusaders, under Rainier de Brus, for the capture of Damascus, during which Ismail, the Grand Prior of the Assassins, handed the castle of Banias over to the Christian knight — retaking it three years later, however, when Rainier de Brus with his sol- diery lay before Joppa with the King of Jerusalem. What amount of fusion existed at that date between the Ismailians and the Ansariyeh it is difficult to determine, but it is a singular circumstance that, according to the tradition which we received irom the sheikh of Ain P it, they had occupied these vil- lages 800 years ; and it is not, therefore, impossible that they were the remnant of the Assassins with whom Rainier de Brus made the unholy compact which resulted m such dire disaster to the Crusaders, on the occasion of their attempt to capture Damascus. One of the other Ansariyeh villages was quite close to Ain Pit, perched just above it, and both were surrounded by fairly cultivated fields and gar- RUINS OF SUBEIBEH. 43 dens. As we ascended above them, we found our- selves amongst scrub oak, and looked back over the plain of the Huleh, with the village of Banias at our feet, and the majestic ruins of the huge old castle of Subeibeh crowning a conical hill. Originally, doubt- less, a stronghold of the Phoenicians, it became in turn a fortress of the Ismailians and the Crusaders, and is the most massive and complete ruin of the kind in Syria. Above all towered snow-clad I lermon. Be- yond the Huleh, the mountains of Galilee closed the prospect, with Jebel Jermak in the distance. The ruins of the crusading castle of Hunin were visible on the opposing ridge, and away to the right the fortress of Belfort reared its lofty walls on the cliff above the Litany. In old days it was said that who- ever held the castles of Banias, Hunin, Belfort, and Tibnin, was master of the whole country. From our present position Tibnin was the only one not visible ; but it was easy to see how completely the fertile plains at our feet were at the mercy of the garrisons of these formidable strongholds, and how difficult they would be of invasion by a foreign enemy. There were traces of an old Roman road which must have connected Banias — or, as it was then called, Paneas — with the cities of the Jaulanitis, the district ;ve were now entering ; and I observed sev- eral old cisterns of considerable size, some of the masonry of which was still intact. At la' : we reached the summit of the ridge, where 44 THE LAND OF GILEAD. the woods of Valonia oak gave way to grassy plains ; and in the distance, not far to the right, we observed the principal encampment of the Fudl Arabs — an important tribe, numbering 2000 lighting men, who make these their grazirtg-grounds, and are celebrated for their prowess in war. We were now at an elevation of about 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and on our right was a range of conical basaltic peaks averaging from 500 to 1000 feet in height, running in a due north and south direction, and known as the Jebel Ilesh, Some of these are wooded on their western slopes with prickly oak and terebinth, and others are high conical grassy mounds. Altogether, the country presented an entirely dif- ferent character from that to the west of the Jordan. At some distance on our left were the lower spurs of Hermon, which finally llatten out into this elevat- ed grass plateau. With the exception of the Arab encampment, we saw no peojile or liabitations for about four hours after leaving the Ansariyeh village ; then we came upon a number of camels grazing, with camel-cloths to protect them from the cold, and looking altogether very different animals from the miserable specimens we had seen at Nabatiyeh, the half-starved property of the Metawaly. The herds- man in chargi^ of ‘ hese told us that we were close to a settlement of Circassian emigrants ; and shortly after, we foimd ourselves in the mitlst of a scene of an altogether novel character. About 300 Circassians CIRCASSIAN COLONISTS. 45 were busily engaged in the first stage of building a village for themselves. They had chosen a site which had evidently been that of a town at some former time, for large square blocks of stone were abundant. Those who had not succeeded in getting a roof over their heads were temporarily sheltered by roughly improvised tents, and all were hard at work making a new home for themselves. They were a fraction of a large importation from Bulgaria, now at Kuneitereh, and most of them came from the neighbourhood of Widdin. In fact, it is not improbable that many of them took some share in the “atrocities.” They were quite amiable so far as we were concerned, but were too busy to bestow very much attention upon us, and their residence in Bulgaria had accustomed them to the sight of specimens of Western civilisation, so that we were no novelty. The women and children were hoeing and weeding in the newly-made gardens. I'hc men were cither hauling stone in creaking arabas drawn by bullocks — a sight which must have been altogether new to the neighbouring Bedouins, who had never seen a wheeled vehicle in their lives — or were building the walls of the houses. 'I'liey were under the management of a chief, who was too busily engaged in a discussion with an Arab to honour us with much of his notice, so we sat lu.cler a half-built wall to discuss our luncheon, and look on at this interesting experiment in colonisation. We ode for an hour more over the vast plain 46 THE LAND OF GILEAD. before we arrived at Kiineiterch, and were passed on the way by a most picturesque Bedouin sheikh with poised lance, and ktifcilieh streaming in the wind, as he urged his thorough-bred little Arab to his full speed. He was bound to our destination, and we pulled up shortly after him at the door of the massive stone building which formed the resi- dence of the Caimakam ; for Kuneitcreh, though a wretched collection of stone huts, is the chef lien of a district, and derived additional importance from the Circassian immigration, of which it was the head- quarters. It stands in the centre of a grassy plain or steppe, on which no trees arc visible, but Avhich is sufficiently well watered to be capable of sustaining a large population. Burckhardt describes Kimei- tcreh in his day as being surrounded by a strong- wall, containing within its circuit a good khan and a fine mosque, with several short columns of grc)- granite. Within the last sixty years the wall, the khan, and the mosque have all disappeared, and tin.- place has been alxindoncd until a few months l«;fore our arrival, when 3000 Circassians arrived to people it. On the north side of the village arc; tlie remains of an ancient city — perhaps Canatha— but th(; ruins consist of little more than foundations. 'I he Caima- kam’s house had been recently built, and contained all the Government offices, such as they were, d'hc lower storey was inhabited by horses and Circas- sians, who all camped together in one spacious sort KUNEITEREH. 47 of cellar. The upper was approached from without by a flight of stone steps, leading to a terrace, upon which opened the various rooms. These were dark and dirty, and innocent of any furniture excepting mats and quilts, with now and then a very untempt- ing bed. The Caimakam was a small, sinister-look- ing Turk, rather of the old school; but he received us with great cordiality, and insisted upon our taking the seats of honour by his side while he presided over the Medjliss which was sitting at the time. The occasion was a most interesting one, and I was glad of the opportunity of seeing the administra- tive system in operation under such peculiar circum- stances. Occupying by virtue of his rank the highest place, was the celebrated chief Hassan Faour, Emir of the Fudl, a very handsome man of between fifty and sixty years of age, with a Jewish type of coun- tenance, and great dignity of manner. Next to him came the Sheikh Mousa, the chief of a tribe of Tur- coman Arabs who have found their way, at some former period, from their Eastern home, probably in the neighbourhood of the Caspian, to the eastern bank of the Jordan. I was sorry I had no oppor- tunity of finding out from the sheikh something of the history of his tribe. He was a man with a very intelligeo; expression of countenance, and delicate and pleasing features, and rules over a thousand fighting men. Though he spoke Arabic, the tribe retains it- own dialect of Turkish. Then came in. 48 THE LAND OF GILEAD. with no small swagger, the Arab who had galloped past us half an hour before, and who turned out to be no less a person than Sheikh Awad al Ahmed, the sheikh of the Naim, the most celebrated among all the Arabs of this region for his valour in the field, and who rules over 4000 fighting men. There were two or three other Arab chiefs of minor importance, and opposite to them on our other side sat a group of Druses with their sheikh, who came from the village of Mejdel es Shems to protest to the local Medjliss against a requisition of charcoal which had been levied upon the Druse population of Mejdel cs Shems by the governor or Mutessarif of the pro- vince, resident at Sheikh Sa’ad. There seemed to be a good deal of sympathy manifested with the Druses, but politeness did not warrant our staying to the end of the discussion, so I don’t know how it ter- minated ; but the fact that three or four Arab chiefs should leave their tents to come and take part in a council presided over by a Turkish official, to en- tertain a grievance of Druse peasantry against the governor of the province, was significant in many ways. It is a distinct indication of a sedentary ten- dency on the part of the Arabs, and of their re- cognition of the advantages of a settled system of government. It i:- evident that when the chiefs of the tribes become members of the local councils for administering the country, they are to a great extent pledged to good behaviour, while it must add very THE CIRCASSIAN COLONISTS. 49 considerably to their sense of personal importance to exercise functions which invest them with the char- acter of referees or arbitrators in matters of dispute between the governor of a province and the Druses. They regarded us with an interest which we fully returned, and made sundry little complimentary speeches during pauses in the discussion. Then, under the guidance of the Caimakam’s secretary, we went off to inspect our sleeping accommodation, which turned out to be none other than the bedroom of that functionary himself, which he vacated for us. The day was yet young, so we went out to in- vestigate the village and its Circassian occupants, for there was no native population apart from these. We paid a visit to Ismail Agha, their head man, and found him a most pleasing and intelligent person. When he found that I had not only been in Circassia, but actually knew his native valley, he became quite demonstrative in his expressions of goodwill, and I only regretted that my Turkish was so limited that the interchange of ideas was attended with difficulty. He had been six years a prisoner with the Russians, and spoke Russian fluently. He also spoke Turkish, Circassian of course, and a little Arabic. He de- lighted to talk of his native mountains, but spoke sadly o^ his expatriation and the fate of his country- men, allowed no rest, but ejected in a wholesale manner, first from Russia to European Turkey, and now fron Bulgaria to Syria. The Circassians have D so THE LAND OF GILEAD. such an evil reputation, that to undertake their de- fence, even with the Turks, is an ungrateful task ; but I know few races who possess such noble quali- ties, though they have been subjected to experiences which have tried them beyond their power of endur- ance. It is probable, if a few Highland clans had been dotted about the southern counties of England a hundred and fifty years ago, and told to provide for themselves, that their former habits of life, com- bined with the absence of any sufficient means of subsistence provided for them by Government, would have resulted in their taking what did not belong to them. The chronic condition of warfare in which the Circassians had always lived, engaged in a lifelong- struggle for independence against an overpowering enemy, developed in them sanguinary instincts, to which, in fact, they owe their successful resistance during so many years ; while the methods by which the Russians conducted the war were precisely those which they were themselves accused of using in Bulgaria. The severity of the order of the Russian general commanding in Circassia, immediately prior to the Crimean war, is matter of history; and the people could not therefore know the extent to which they were outraging civilised instincts by following the example of their Christian enemies. There can be no doubt that the exasperation following their con- quest and expatriation, their extreme poverty and THE CIRCASSIAN COLONISTS. 51 distress, and the close contact into which they were brought in Bulgaria with people of the same race and religion as their hated and traditional foes, proved a combination of influences more powerful than a high-spirited and almost totally uncivilised m people could resist ; but they are capable of the strongest personal attachments, and of the most generous and chivalrous instincts. If their ideas as to the value of life and the sacredness of pro- perty differ in degree from those of Europe, it is not because by nature they are greater murderers and plunderers than other people, but because they have lived under circumstances which made mur- der and robbery the necessary conditions to their existence. Ismael Agha said that there were altogether about 3000 Circassians in Kuneitereh and its vicinity, who, although they had only been there a few months, were already establishing themselves in comparative comfort. They were grouped in seven villages, all of which they had themselves built, and had brought enough property with them to purchase a few cattle, so that they were not in absolute want, though some of them were very poor. The Government was still supplying scantily the necessities of those who needed It ; but it is evident that a Government whose resources are not sufficient to buy food for its own army, cannot do much to feed scores of thousands of Circassia.: and Moslem refugees from all parts of 52 THE LAND OF GILEAD. European Turkey. The chief expressed himself toler- ably well satisfied with his new location. In the first place, there were no neighbours, and there was there- fore no temptation to plunder. In the whole district of Jaulan, which, it is said, once contained three hundred villages, only ten now remain, and these afforded no great stimulus to predatory propensities ; the others had all been abandoned in consequence of Arab raids. The presence of the Circassians did not, therefore, inspire the inhabitants, accustomed to live in terror of the Arabs, with any additional feel- ing of insecurity, but rather the contrary. The Cir- cassians, being a sedentary people, and having pro- perty to protect, might be expected to make common cause with them against the Arabs. These latter were, however, being rapidly reduced to order ; and, indeed, the tribes most feared were not those inhabit- ing the Jaulan, but those which made incursions into this rich pastoral country from the eastern deserts. As it is, this region could sustain ten times its pres- ent population ; and in ancient days, when it con- tained, according to Porter, 127 cities, the sites of many of which still remain, the population must have been comparatively dense. There should be no rea.son therefore, why, if the Circassians are left undisturbed, they should not prosper. Unfortu- nately, they are so much more accustomed to fight than to work, that some time will probably elapse before they acquire habits of industry; while they THE CIRCASSIAN COLONISTS. S3 still, to a certain extent, regard their daughters as a legitimate source of revenue. Neither parents nor children have any objection to marriage or servitude under these conditions ; and there can be no doubt that the fact that they are always able to dispose of their children to wealthy Turks, has pro- vided them with a means of averting the pressure of famine by reducing their families, and obtaining money for those who were left. At the same time, it is a great question whether, considering the diffi- culties with which they have to contend, their natural improvidence and idleness, and the great dispropor- tion of male to female children, in consequence of the sale of the latter, the race is likely to exist much longer as a distinct people. We wandered afterwards through the village, con- sisting of about a hundred small stone huts ; and everywhere the Circassians whom we met seemed kindly disposed, and ever ready to gossip. Even though their costume was generally more or less in rags, there is a chic about it which remained among the tatters. Their bearing was as proud and independent as if the magazines they carry on their breasts were still supplied with ammunition — as if their girdles were still garnished with the hand- some daggers of old, now long since sold for bread, and the rifle with its hairy cover was still swinging at their backs. Their small feet, once cased in the neatest J. red leather buskins, were now often bare, 54 THE LAND OF GILEAD. and their head-gear improvised ; but none would ever condescend to wear the red fez. Yet, with all this, their swagger was undiminished. Their fair complexions, blue eyes, and red beards, seemed to establish a sort of kinship with our own race ; and in the manly and somewhat defiant expression of their handsome faces, it was impossible not to feel that there was something sympathetic. We had a discussion afterwards with the Caima- kam’s secretary as to the relative prowess in war of Druses, Circassians, and Bedouins. He gave the palm decidedly to the latter, and placed the Circas- sians last. I should have thought that between Druses and Circassians it would have been hard to choose, but that either race would prove more than a match for the same number of Bedouins. I am aware that Circassians do not, as a rule, distinguish themselves as an irregular force attached to a regular army, and my own personal observations during a campaign with the Turkish army in the Caucasus in 1855 were entirely to this effect; but they are under no discipline, and are never supplied with rations. They naturally, under these circumstances, do not think of anything but plunder, and they trust to the army to do the fighting, in which, when their own homesteads are not in question, they do not feel especially interested. But they have performed feats of valour in the guerilla warfare of their own moun- tains which equal anything in the history of the Highlands of Scotland or of the Alps. 55 CHAPTER III. JAULAN — JEDUR — THE LEJAH — ITS IMPREGNABILITY AND STRA- I'EGICAL IMPORTANCE WE LOSE OUR WAY ASCENT OF TEI- EL PARIS MAGNIFICENT VIEW FIK, THE ANCIENT APHEK AND HIPPOS THE COMING OF ANTICHRIST, AND END OF THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE KORAN TSEIL — THE MON- ASTERY AND TOMB OF JOB ^I’HE LAND OF UZ THE WORSHIP OF BAAL AND ASHERAH THE SITES OF ASHTAROTH AND ASHTAROTH CARNAIM. Jaulan takes its name from the Golan of Scripture — its chief city in early clays — in regard to which wc are informed that “ unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer.'' The site of the city has never been satisfactorily identified : the district of vvhich it was the centre formed part of Perea, and belonged at the time of Christ to the tetrarchy of Philip, the brother of Herod. The remaining cities of Jaulan of which we have any record were Hippos, Gamala, Bethsaida, Seleucia, and Sogane. Of these, only Gamala and Bethsaida have been identified. The province ex- tends s» jthwanis as far as the Yarmuk or Sheriat 56 THE LAND OF GILEAD. El Mandur, the ancient Hieromax, and was one of the old divisions of the land of Bashan, the other three being Trachonitis, Auranitis, and Batanea. Intervening between Jaulan and the volcanic re- gion of Trachonitis, and running south - eastwards from Kuneitereh and the eastern slopes of Hermon, is the district of Jedur, It takes its name from Jetur, the son of Ishmael, and was subsequently known as Ituraca. Standing on the terrace of the Caimakam’s house, we looked over the plains upon which “ the sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, forty and four thousand seven hundred and threescore, made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab,” and took as spoils 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2000 asses, and 100,000 men — a booty which con- veys some idea of the material wealth of the country and its population in those days. The last' conflict which took place on the bor- ders of Ituraca was one of a very different nature. About thirty miles distant from Kuneitereh, and intervening between the plain of Ituraca and the mountains of Bashan or Jcbel Druse, lies that remarkable bed of black basalt called by the Ro- mans Trachonitis, which some believe to be the Argob 01 the Bible — though that is by no means satisfactorily established — and nowadays known as THE LEJAH. 57 the Lejah. Elevated about twenty feet above the plain, it is a labyrinth of clefts and crevasses in the rock, formed by volcanic action ; and owing to its im- penetrable condition, it has become a place of refuge for outlaws and turbulent characters, who make it a sort of cave of Adullam. The Government of the Porte is unable to exercise any authority here, and its inhabitants know no law but their own. A large proportion of these are Druses, who use the 2)lacc as a stronghold to resist the conscription, or any exactions of the Turkish Government to Avhich they object. It is, in fact, an impregnable natural fortress, about twenty miles in length by fifteen in breadth; and when Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt held this country in 1835, he determined to bring it into subjection. Its garrison consisted of 800 Druses. The Egyptian army surrounded the Lejah, and occasionally succeeded in penetrating a short way into it; but after a siege of eleven months, dur- ing which Ibrahim Pasha lost 25,000 men, he was compelled to draw off his troops and acknowledge himself vanquished by the invincible 800. Some years afterwards, Mehemet Kuprisli Pasha attempted to enforce the conscription on the Druses of the Lejah with an army of 13,000 men, but was resisted by betwee n 400 and 500 Druses at the south-west angle, and compelled to retire with a great loss of men and some cannon. Since our visit to this neigh- bourhoo'.l, Midhnt Pasha has become involved in a 58 THE LAND OF GILEAD. dispute with the Druses of the Lejah, against whom he sent a force of 5000 men. The matter was only arranged after a sharp fight in which 300 men were killed and wounded, when a compromise was effected, through the mediation of the chief Druse chiefs of the Lebanon; and I see that the Turkish Govern- ment have recently had the good sense to select a Druse sheikh to be appointed the local Caimakam, instead of, as heretofore, a Turk, often ignorant of the language, and of the peculiar conditions with which he had to deal. It would be a great im- provement in the administration if prominent men of the locality were more often appointed local au- thorities, instead of corrupt and ignorant function- aries being sent from Constantinople. The import- ance of the Lejah as a strategical point, and of the Druses as its defenders in case of an invasion from the north-east, should not be overlooked. We now proposetl to traverse the plains of Jaulan, for the purpose of inspecting their pastoral resources, and e.xploring a tract of which no very definite account exists. As a guide, the Caimakam gave us a Kurdish zaptich, who was supposed to know the vay to Sheikh Sa’ad, Avhich was our objective point. The sun rose brilliantly on the morning of our start, but an ominous bank of clouds resting just above the horizon, warned us that its splendour was likely to be of short duration ; and we had A MARCH IN MIST. 59 scarcely got under way when a driving mist swept down upon us, and almost induced us to abandon our journey for the day. Our first glimpse of the sun, however, gave us confidence in its power ultimately to disperse the clouds, and we pressed on. To the right, the grassy conical hill of Tulfil Surnam rose to a height of 600 or 700 feet above the plain ; and skirting its base, we reached in about an hour an embryo Circassian village, the most southerly of the seven. A biting cold wind whistled down upon us from the snows of Hermon, and there was a slight suspicion of hoar-frost on the ground. So far, the path had been well worn and easy to find ; but after leaving the Circassian village, the fog thickened, and the path diminished in size, until at last we lost it altogether, and wan- dered helplessly in the mist. Luckily the country was flat and open, so that there was nothing to pre- vent our going in any direction we liked, and we were enabled to make some use of our compass; but it was a great disappointment to find ourselves traversing an entirely new' country without being able to see anything of it beyond a radius of fifty yards. Thar we were often wading knee - deep in the most luxuriant herbage, that we frequently crossed clear little brooks bubbling among the stones, that we sometimes were scrambling over what seemed ancient lava-beds, that now and then we went down 6o THE LAND OF GILEAD. into grassy hollows from which we climbed out up steep stony sides, — so much we knew ; but whether we were passing within a few yards of the ruins of some of the 127 cities that are strewn over the country, whether we were near large Arab encamp- ments, whether the country was all grass and stone, or whether there might be wood to be seen in some directions, and how the hills looked which we knew were to our right, — all these were matters which sorely tried our tempers and imaginations. Our Kurdish zaptich was absolutely obtuse when any- thing like information was concerned, and our efforts to get anything out of him only tried our patience still more. At last we heard the barking of a dog and tluj o o bleating of sheep, and following the sound, came upon a Bedouin shepherd sitting on a rock, and looming through the mist like an Eastern idol. I le was tending a flock of black-faced, fat-tailed sheep. We asked him to take us to the nearest tents, which we found were only a few yards off. These were only three or four in number ; most of the men were away, and the women were busy making semen. This is a p”eparation of milk first boiled, then hung, then churned in a sheep-skin by women, who sus- pend it to a stick, and then keep pulling it to and fro until it attains the consistency of clarified butter, when it is exported to all parts of Syria to be used for cooking purposes, instead of oil, fresh butter, or ASCENT OF TEL EL PARIS. 6l grease. There is quite an extensive business in semen between the Bedouins and the settled popula- tion of the west, and a large trade is done with the Desert, chiefly by Jedeideh men, who go laden with coffee, powder, cloths, and other articles needed by the Arabs, and come back with semen. The Arabs of Jaulan and Jcdur own extensive flocks of camels, cattle, and sheep, and the Kurds come here with large droves of horses, destined for Syria, Egypt, and the west generally. They remain on these grazing-lands until the condition of their horses is thoroughly restored after their journey, and then they either drive them on into Palestine, or sell them to traders who come here to buy them. After some little parleying, we persuaded an Arab to guide us to Tel el P'aris, the most southerly peak of the Jebel Hesh range, which we intended to ascend if, by the time we reached it, the weather had cleared. He led us with Arab instinct through the mist till mid-day, when, to our intense relief, it cleared, and we found ourselves at the foot of the hill. We had now no further need of his services, so we dismissed him, lunched, and mounted our steeds for the ascent. Tel el Paris is the crater of an extinct volcano, rising some 700 or 800 feet above the plain, which is here about 2700 icet above the sea, or about 400 feet below its level at Kuneitereh. We were not long in pushing our steeds up the steep grassy shjpe, until, near the top, we found it more to 62 THE LAND OF GILEAD. our minds to dismount and lead them round the rim of the crater on the summit. It was so narrow that, with a high wind blowing, we almost found a dis- position to giddiness. At one point where it flat- tened out a little was a small Arab cemetery; and we disturbed a jackal engaged on a skull, from which it would appear that it is still occasionally used. The view from this point comprised the whole terri- tory once ruled over by Og, the King of Bashan, and was most interesting. In all directions the eye ranged over a vast expanse of well -watered plain and pasture-land, in places abundantly strewn with basaltic rocks, but still capable of sustaining countless flocks and herds. At the base of the cone was one of the few villages still existing in Jaulan, sur- rounded by a very considerable tract of cultivated land. To the south the steppe stretched away till it was cleft by the winding gorges of the Yarmuk, beyond which the country became undulating and wooded, terminating in the lofty range of the Jebel Ajlun, or the mountains of Gilead. To the south- east and east extended the vast corn-growing plains of Hauran, bounded in their turn by the “hills of Bashan” and the Jebel Druse, now the home of three-fourths of the Druse race, on the plains to the south of which the Israelites found si.xty cities with fortified walls and gates. To the north-east, we looked over the pasture-plains of Itura;a, with the VIEW FROM THE CRATER. 63 solitary conical hill of Tel el Hara rising from the midst of them, and forming a conspicuous landmark. In this direction the prospect was bounded by the low range of the Jebel el Mania, thirty miles be- yond which lay the city of Damascus. Walking round our crater, and looking north, we could now sec the character of the country we had traversed in the fog — a brilliantly green expanse dotted with patches of basaltic rock, with Mount Ilermon in the far distance, and, more to the west, the volcanic range of El Hesh, still shrouded in clouds, which also hung over the valley of the upper Jordan. But the most interesting view of all was to the south-west. In this direction the plain was so rocky as in places almost to give it the appearance of a desert. It extended for nearly twenty miles, and terminated abruptl}’ in the precipitous shores of the Lake of Tiberias, its blue waters sparkling in the sun, and behind them the irregular outline of the mountains of Palestine closed the prospect. It was on this plain that the King of Syria met the Israel- ites, when he was told by his servants that the gods of Israel were the gods of the hills, because they had previously beaten the Syrians at Samaria ; but, said thev, “ let us fight against them in the plain, and surely .ve shall be stronger than they.” So they chose tins plain, and “went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.” Aphek is the modern Fik. We could see through our glasses the small collection of 64 THE LAND OF GILEAD. stone huts, scarcely distinguishable from the rest of the stones by which it was surrounded, and which form the present village. Here “ the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids, but the Syrians filled the country.” After the slaughter of 100,000 Syrians, the remainder took refuge in Aphek, where a wall fell upon the 27,000 that were left. The plateau extending from Fik to the Yarmuk on the south, and the Lake of Tiberias on the west, is described by Mr Merill, of the American Survey, as “generally level, extremely fertile, and, taken together, forming one of the finest wheat-fields in Syria. The soil is of a reddish colour, and quite free from stones.” At Fik, which Mr Merill visited, and believes to be identical with Hippos, he found extensive ruins which deserve to be thoroughly ex- amined. He says, “ Columns and ornamental work abound, and there are some elegant stone doors, and some Cufic inscriptions.” Gamala is, according to Mr Merill, only forty-five minutes distant from Fik ; and here he describes the ruins as being more extensive than at any other place which he had visited east of the Jordan : “ Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian cap- itals; marble, granite, and basalt columns; ornamen- tal work of considerable variety; walls, towers, public and private buildings, — all fallen into confusion to- gether.” ^ Burckhardt travelled across the plain from * Palestine Exploration Society. Fourth Statement. January 1877 : New York. ISLAMITIC ESCHATOLOGY. 65 Fik past the base of Tel el Paris, and so on to Tseil, the village to which we were bound, and gives a most careful description of the ruins he passed. He believes the plain of Fik to be the ancient 'Arsfob. No modern traveller seems to have followed this route since. According to Mohammedan belief, the plain of Fik may yet be the scene of an encounter pregnant with far more vital consequences to humanity than that between the Syrians and Israelites ; for it is one of the “ greater signs ” of the approach of the end of the world, and of the resurrection, that Jesus shall appear again on earth — according to some, at the white tower near Damascus, and according to others, near a rock named Alik — with a lance in His hand, wherewith to kill Antichrist.^ The country im- mediately round the present Fik is such a mass of rock that one can scarcely doubt that this is the spot indicated. Although the belief of Moslems in regard to the end of the world and the final judgment is no mystery to any one who takes the trouble to look for it in the Koran, it seems to be so little known generally, that 1 may perliaps be excused for allud- ing to it more fully. In the forty -third chapter of the Ko! an, entitled “ The Ornaments of Gold,” Moham.med says, “And He [Jesus] shall be a sign of the approach of the last hour, whereof doubt not.” ‘ Sale’s Koran, p. 367. E 66 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Apd it is the Mohammedan faith that Jesus can thus reappear, inasmuch as He was taken up into heaven without dying by the angels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel; and that it was Judas who was crucified in His stead, God having permitted that traitor to appear so like his Master in the eyes of the Jews that they took Him and delivered Him to Pilate. In the fourth chapter of the Koran, entitled “Women,” it is said, “Therefore they [the Jews] have made void the covenant, and have not be- lieved in the signs of God, and have slain the pro- phets unjustly, and have said our hearts are uncir- cumcised ; and for that they have not believed in Jesus, and have spoken against Mary a grievous calumny, and have said. Verily we have slain Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the apostle of God ; yet they slew Him not, neither crucified Him, but He was represented by one in His likeness; and verily they who disagreed concerning Him were in doubt as to this matter, and had no sure knowledge thereof, but followed an uncertain opinion. They did not really kill Him, but God took Him up unto Him- self. And God is mighty and wise, and there shall not be one of those who have received the Scrip- ture who shall not believe in Him before His death, and on the day of resurrection He shall be a witness against them.” Christ having thus escaped death, and retained His natural body, is enabled to reappear in it, and ISLAMITIC ESCHATOLOGY. 67 rule for forty years at Jerusalem, during which time the paradisiacal condition prophesied in the Bible will be established on the earth. Christ will embrace the Mohammedan religion, marry a wife, get chil- dren, kill Antichrist, die after forty years, and rise again at the resurrection. Nevertheless, Mohammed shall be the first to rise, and he also will become the intercessor between God and man at the Judgment, this office having been previously declined by Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Jesus. Among the other signs which are to precede the resurrection, a war is predicted with the Greeks, and Constantinople is to be taken by the posterity of Isaac, who shall not win that city by force of arms, but the walls shall fall down while they cry out, “ There is no god but God ; God is most great.” As they arc dividing the spoil, news will come to them of the appearance of Antichrist, whereupon they shall leave all and return back. The fourth great sign is the coming of Anti- christ, whom Mohammedans call A1 Dajjal. He is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters C.F.R., signifying cafer or infidel. They say that the Jews give him the name of Messiah ben David, and pretend that he is to come in the last days, and restore the kingdom to them. According to the tradition of Mohammed, he is to appear first between Irak and Syria. They add, he is to ride on an ass, that he will be followed by 68 THE LAND OF GILEAD. 70,000 Jews of Ispahan, and continue on earth forty days, of which one will be equal to a year, another to a month, another to a week, and the rest common days; that he is to lay waste all places, but not Mecca or Medina. Then will come a war with the Jews, of whom the Mohammedans will make a tre- mendous slaughter, and the eruption of Gog and Magog, supposed by some Mohammedans to mean the Russians, who will pass the Lake of Tiberias, which they will drink dry, and then come on to Jerusalem, where they will greatly distress Jesus and His companions, till at His request God will destroy them,^ ' The remaining greater signs are : that the sun shall rise in the west ; the appearance of the beast — an allegorical creation, very similar to the one described in the Revelation; a smoke which will fill the earth ; an eclipse of the moon ; the return of the Arabs to their idolatry; the discovery of treasure on the Euphrates; the demolition of the temple of Mecca, or Caaba, by the Ethiopians; the speaking of beasts and inanimate things; the breaking out of tire in the Hejaz; the appearance of a man of the descendants of Kahtan ; the coming of Mehdi, or the Director — this person the Shiites consider to be now alive, and concealed in some secret place till the time of his mani- festation, which many of them conceive to be at hand ; a wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who have but a grain of faith in their heart.s. The lesser signs are : i, decay of faith among men ; 2, rdvancing of the meanest persons to eminent dignity; 3, that a maid-servant shall become the mother of her mistre.ss — by which is meant, either that towards the end of the world men shall be much given to sensuality, or that the Mohammedans shall take many cajv tivos; 4, tumults and seditions; 5, “a war with the Turks” (this would seem to indicate a time when Islam shall be divided against itself); 6. great distress in the world, so that a man when he passes another's grave shall say, “Would to God that I were in his place;” 7, tlKil ISLAMITIC ESCHATOLOGY. 69 These are the greater signs which, according to their doctrine, are to precede the resurrection, but still leave the hour of it uncertain. The immediate sign will be the “ blast of consternation,” when the heavens will meet, the earth be shaken, and terrors similar to those predicted by Christ occur. Then will come the “ blast of examination,” when all creatures, both in heaven and earth, shall be de- stroyed, except those which God shall please to exempt from this fate. The last who shall die will be the angel of death. Forty years after this comes the “blast of the resurrection,” when the trumpet shall be sounded the third time by Asrafil, who, together with Gabriel and Michael, will be previ- ously restored to life, and, standing on the rock of the Temple of Jerusalem, shall at God’s command call together all the dry and rotten bones, and other dispersed parts of the body, and the very hairs, to judgment. This angel will collect all the souls and fill his trumpet with them, and then blow them out into their respective bodies. It is unnecessary here to go into the details of the resurrection and of the subsequent judgment — when all will pass over the narrow bridge A1 Sirat, which, stretched across hell, will be finer than a hair and sharper than a sword — or of the Mohammedan con- the provinces of Irak and Syria shall refuse to pay their tribute; 8. that the buildings of Medina shall reach to Ahab or \hab. — Sale’s Koran. 70 THE LAND OF GILEAD. ception of Paradise or of hell, further than to call attention to their order. The first is assigned to wicked Mohammedans, the second to Jews, the third to Christians, the fourth to the Sabeans, the fifth to the Magians, the sixth to the idolaters, and the seventh — which is the worst and deepest of all — to the hypocrites of all religions : this will undoubtedly be by far the most crowded. A ride of three hours from the foot of Tel el Paris across the plains brought us to one of the northern affluents of the Yarmuk, the Allan, which was clear and fordable, with a stony bed. It was spanned by an old Roman bridge of five arches, and the traces of the Roman road leading to it were visible. In the immediate vicinity were the ruins of what seemed to have been a temple, the walls of which were in places from six to eight feet in height, and some of the larger blocks of stone bore the marks of elaborate carving. It was in shape a parallelogram, and had been surrounded by a colonnade. The stream which we here crossed is the eastern boundary of Jaulan, and we now entered Hauran, or ancient Auranids, and in less than an hour reached the village of Tseil. This village, like the others in this part of the country, consisted of flat-roofed hovels, built of blocks of dolerite stone, which had been used in times gone by for the walls of far more imposing structures, and often bore traces of carving. They were now generally plastered with cow-dung. THE VILLAGE OF TSEIL. 71 We dismounted at the house of the sheikh, for we thought of passing the night here ; but we found it contained only one room in which travellers could be lodged, and this was already full of visitors, who apparently intended to stay and sleep. It looked intensely stuffy, and was full of smoke, and probably of fleas ; so we decided to urge our weary steeds on to Sheikh Sa’ad. There were several fragments of columns lying in the courtyard of the sheikh’s house, and some of them supported a sort of piazza in front of it. There is also an old Christian church here, which has been converted into a mosque. Tseil is on the great caravan route from Jisr el Mejamia, a bridge over the Jordan below Gadara, to Damascus, and really the shortest road from Jeru- salem to that city, though, in consequence of its sup- posed insecurity, and the monotony of the country through which it passes, it is never taken by tourists. The next station to Tseil on the way to Da- mascus, distant five miles, is Nawa, the ancient Neve — a place of great interest, on account of the extensive ruins by which it is surrounded. Mr Merill is of opinion that Nawa is the site of the ancient Golan, once a city of refuge, and supports this hypothesis by the fact that Tseil seems un- questionably to be the ancient Thersila mentioned by Jerome, and which was inhabited by Samaritans ; and we are told that in immediate proximity to the 72 THE LAND OF GILEAD. city of refuge was a town where there dwelt a tur- bulent population hostile to the Jews. It does not appear, however, that the American explorer ever visited this locality; but Burckhardt, who was at Nawa in 1812, says that it contains the remains of temples and other public buildings, showing that it must have been at one time a city of some import- ance. Arab writers describe it as having been the home of Job. Muhammed el Makdeshi says, p. 81 of his ‘ Geography ; ’ “ And in Hauran and Batanata lie the villages of Job and his home ; the chief place is Nawa, rich in wheat and other cereals.” Jakut el Hamawi describes Nawa as “ the residence [inensil] of Job.” And Ibn er Rabi says, “To the prophets buried in the regions of Damascus belongs also Job, and his tomb is near Nawa, in the district of Hauran.” We galloped for an hour more over the plain be- fore we saw before us, in the light of the setting sun, the village of Es Sa’dlyeh, or Sheikh Sa’ad, built on a low conical mound; and about a mile distant to the south-west, also on a mound, the monastery of Job — Der hiyub — a quadrangular building, from which the Turkish flag was floating. We rode to the village first; but its appearance was so squalid, and the negroes who inhabited it looked so uninviting, that we went on to the mon- astery, and determined to throw ourselves upon the hospitality of the Mutessarif or governor of the pro- THE MONASTERY OF JOB. 73 vince, who 'had recently converted it into the seat of his government. We followed the broad beaten track and line of telegraph-posts, which indicated a direct communica- tion between this point and Damascus, and soon found ourselves at the gateway of the monastery, opposite to which a few shops, a smithy, and some military storehouses formed one side of the only street in the place. Here we were most politely received by the governor’s secretary, who led us into the quadrangle of the monastery, — an extensive courtyard, containing in the centre the residence and offices of the Mutessarif, and a Christian church — no longer, of course, used as such. Built under the wall on the sides of the square were barracks for troops, depots for stores, and the apartments of sundry officials. One of these was occupied by the secretary, which he kindly offered to place at our disposal ; and as it was superior to anything in the shape of accommodation we had seen since leaving Sidon, we gratefully became his guests. According to Arabian authors, the monastery was built by the Jefnide King Amr I., who reigned about i8o a.d. If this is the case, it is evident that the Arabs of Hauran embraced Christianity at a very early period, and were the architects of probably the most ancient ecclesiastical edifice of this description of which we have any record. According to the history of Ibn Kethir, the Grseco-Ghassanide army, under the com- 74 THE LAND OF GILEAD. mand of Theodoric, a brother of the Emperor Hera- clius, revolted here a few months prior to the battle of the Yarmuk, which resulted in the loss of Syria to the Byzantines. A Greek inscription which had for- merly been in the church was now placed over the entrance gateway, but it was so much effaced that I did not succeed in deciphering it. In consequence of the unhealthiness of Mezarib, which was formerly the seat of government, the monastery, which was partially in ruins, was bought about three years ago, converted into a barrack, and became the residence of the Mutessarif. It is built of fine square blocks of dolerite. A few weeks before our arrival five or six hundred soldiers had been sent here by Midhat Pasha from Damascus, for the purpose of maintain- ing order in the province : of these only about two hundred remained, the others having been sent to points where their presence was deemed more neces- sary. We paid a visit to the governor, and had a long discussion with him on the subject of the ad- ministration of his province. It is composed of the four districts of Hauran, Ajlun, Jaulan, and Jedur. Of these districts Hauran is by far the most pro- ductive and thickly populated. The high range of mountains on the cast, in old times called the hills of Bashan, and now the Jebcl Druse, are inhabited by about 50,000 of the Druse people ; and on their lower slopes there are several villages of Christians, chiefly of the orthodox Greek Church, In the plains THE PEOPLE OF THE HAURAN. 75 the peasantry dress like the Arabs, and are no doubt ethnologically nearly allied to them. Though subject to Bedouin incursions, they have managed to hold their own more successfully than the natives of the other districts. All they want is protection ; and this the new governor-general seems determined to give them. Hitherto they have been compelled to pur- chase safety by a system of black-mail ; and what they fear is, if the Government chastise predatory Arabs now, that a new Vali may succeed the present one, and not continue the same policy, but for the sake of economy or other reasons withdraw the troops : in that case the Arabs, undeterred by fear of conse- quences, would revenge themselves upon the unfor- tunate villagers. On the occasion of our visit a sense of security pervaded the country, to which it had long been a stranger ; nor could we have desired a better proof of its peace and order than in the per- fect security with which we wandered about it. In Jedur and Jaulan the settled population has considerably diminished of late years ; still there do not seem to be any great tracts of land in which the absolute title is vested in the Government. The Mutessarif himself was said to be the largest land- holder in J auian ; and though villages may be de- serted, in the event of a purchase of them being attempted fn)m the Government, claimants would be apt to spring up from unexpected quarters, as the Government have issued at some period or other 76 THE LAND OF GILEAD. tapoo papers for the greater part of Jaulan, and these have in many cases not run out. These papers give a prescriptive possession, based on occupation and cultivation, and proprietors gener- ally take some means of keeping their titles alive ; though probably, if they came to be strictly exam- ined, they would be found defective. Nevertheless, magnificent grazing-land could doubtless be picked up in Jaulan now for next to nothing. It was impossible to pass the night upon a mound which popular tradition identifies with the dunghill upon which Job scraped himself with potsherds, without feeling a strong desire to trace its origin, and raise, however slightly, the veil which shrouds the mystery of his place of abode. Leaving the controversy as to his real or mythical character to be discussed by Ewald, Renan, Froude, and others far more competent to deal with it than myself, there can be no doubt that among the inhabitants of this region the tradition that it was the land of Uz runs back to a very early date. Biblical com- mentators usually place that region very far to the south and cast of Bashan, in Arabia Deserta, to the north of the 30th parallel of latitude, and contiguous to Idumsea. The arguments in favour of this view are, that in a notice appended to the Alexandrian version of the Bible it is stated that “Job bore pre- viously the name of Jobab,” and that a tradition adopted by the Jews and some Christian fathers THE COUNTRY OF JOB. 77 identify him with Jobab, “son of Zerah of Bozrah,” and successor of Bela, first king of Edom. Zerah, Jobab’s father, was the son of Reuel, the son of Esau. This Bozrah was not the Bozrah in Bashan, but in Edom. Moreover, Mohammedan writers tell us that Job was of the race of Esau. It is also said that incursions could not have been made by the Chaldeans and Sabeans — the one from the banks of the Euphrates, and the other from Yemen, the home of the Sabeans — unless Uz was situated somewhere between them in the locality indicated. To this it may be replied that the evi- dence identifying Job with Jobab is very slight; but granting this, it might have been part of Edom in the days of Esau’s grandson, while, if at that epoch the Chaldeans, as is generally supposed, had not yet descended to the plains of Babylon, but were a predatory tribe living in Kurdistan, Bashan would be a most convenient raiding-ground. It is true that it would have been distant from the Sabeans ; but so, on the other hand, was Edom from Kurdistan. And to this day the Arabs make marauding expedi- tions and hostile demonstrations over this very track. Since the period of our visit, Ibn Rashid is reported 'to have advanced with an immense force from Jebel Shammar, in the heart of Arabia, a distance of about 600 miles, into the outlying districts of Hauran. Wetzstein, 1 think, clearly shows that the land of Uz mentioned in Jer. xxv. 20, cannot refer to Edom, but 78 THE LAND OF GILEAD. must have reference to a region near Damascus; while Josephus (Ant., i. 6. 4) states that “the Arameans, whom the Greeks call the Syrians, were descended from Aram. Uz, who was a son of Aram, settled Trachonitis and Damascus,” — a fact which is relied upon by Ewald, who places Uz in the south of Ba- shan. William of Tyre narrates that the Crusaders, returning from a marauding expedition in Hauran, wished to reconquer a position which “lies in the province of Suite,” and that Bildad, Job’s friend, who is on that account called the Shuhite, comes from it. The modern name of this district is Zuweit, and it lies about twenty miles south of Sheikh Sa’ad. While the modern village of Tema. the inhabitants of which are to this day called Tcmani, lying forty miles to the east of Sheikh Sa’ad, may fairly be assumed to have been the home of Eliphaz the Temanite. Again, the tradition of the Arabs is not to be despised. It is evident that a Jefnide king would not have built a monastery on the site, had it not been a spot to which the tradition of Job had at- tached — long, doubtless, before the Christian era. There is probably no part of the world where the native races have undergone so little change as in the region between the Jordan and the Euphrates ; and to this very day the descendants of the contem- poraries of Job, and possibly his own, inhabit the plains of their ancestors. A tradition here has there- fore quite a different value from those which attach THE COUNTRY OF JOB. 79 to Christian sites or relics in Palestine, many of which were, so to speak, discovered “ to order ” long after any evidence by which they could be identified had ceased to exist, in the hope that they might confirm the truth of a tradition. There seems to be more logic in confirming a site by a tradition than in con- firming a tradition by a site or a relic. If, there- fore, this has always been considered, by the race which has inhabited it from time immemorial, to be the land in which Job lived — in other words, the land of Uz — it is certainly an argument in favour of the. possibility of such being the case. The his- torian of Jerusalem, Mugir ed-din el Hambeli, in the chapter on the legends of the prophets, says : “Job came from Kl-Es [Uz ?], and the Damascene province of Bataneea [which includes Hauran] was his pro- perty.” Again, there is a passage in the ‘ Onomas- ticon ’ which furnishes a very early testimony to the existence of this tradition, and which runs as follows : “ According to the view of a certain one [/cara tiws] this region is the land of Asitis [Ausitis], the home of Job; while, according to others, it is Arabia; and again, according to others, it is the land of Sihon.” Porter tells us that the people of Suweideh — a town he visited in the Hauran — say that Job was king of Batana:a, while to this day the peasants call all this country the land of Job (Belad Eyub). In regard to the locality which has been fixed upon as his abode, it is most likely that this is 8o THE LAND OF GILEAD. an instance of the tradition being confirmed by the site. It may have been true that Job lived in these parts because every one had always said so; but it is quite possible that immemorial tradi- tion having in general terms been to this effect, a tendency should be developed to confirm it by finding the exact spot on which he had lain, the bath in which he washed, and the potsherd with which he scraped himself. Whether the extreme veneration which attaches to the monastery and to the Makam or station of Job, arises from the fact that it was originally, as I shall presently endeavour to show, a centre of Baal- worship, and that it only became sacred to the memory of Job when the other culte had passed away ; or whether the Baal-worshippers took advan- tage of an anterior sanctity with which its real or supposed connection with Job had invested it, — it is not possible to say. In the East it is a common thing for the same shrine to serve the purpose of many succeeding religions. A spot once sanctified by worship is thus very likely to become venerated on quite a new set of considerations, and in some cases even the tombs of the saints of one religion become the tombs of the saints of another. For some reason known only to themselves, the Holy Places at Sheikh Sa’ad, or Es Sa’diyeh, seem to be more sacred in the eyes of negro Mohammedans than any other class of Moslems. The tomb of Job job’s fountain. 8i is a sacred shrine to which woolly-haired pilgrims resort from Soudan, first visiting Mecca and Medina, then Damascus, and then the Makam Eyub. Here they remain for a month or more, washing themselves in Job’s fountain, praying at his tomb, and finding congenial companions in their African hosts; for, besides being a resort for pilgrims. Sheikh Sa’ad is also a place of refuge for negro slaves who have been the property of Arabs and have escaped, or been in other servitude and have been granted their liberty. These Holy Places are also venerated still by Christians, as they were in the days of Chrysos- tom, who says of them, “ Many pilgrims come from the ends of the earth to Arabia, in order to seek for the dunghill on which Job lay, and with rapture to kiss the ground where he suffered.” ^ We rode over to the Makam in the morning in company with the governor’s secretary. The tomb is a small white -domed building, apparently very ancient, where a Moslem saint, Sa’ad — from which the village takes its name — is also said to be buried. It is situated in the Makam or station, which is sur- rounded by vegetable gardens, in the midst of which is another building with three small white cupolas, which is the residence of the negro sheikh of the village. In the immediate vicinity is the “wadjet s^jidni Eyub,” “the lavatory of our Lord Job” — a cleft in the rocks about the size of an ordinary * Homil. V. de Stud., § i. tom. ii. p. 59. F 82 THE LAND OF GILEAD. plunge-bath, full of the clearest water, and tempting to look at for ablutionary purposes. Over it is a small building of dolerite stone, also bearing the marks of extreme antiquity. Of Job’s fountain or bath it is said in the Koran ^ — “And it was said unto him [Job], Strike the earth with thy foot; which, when he had done, a fountain sprang up ; and it was said unto him. This is for thee to wash in and to drink. And we said unto him. Take a handful of rods and strike thy wife therewith, and break not thine oath. Verily we found him a patient person.” The Makam and bath are situated at the foot of a mound about a hundred feet high, which is now covered with the wretched huts of the negro population. No Arabs or Syrians live in it, and I was struck with the paucity of women. It was curious to come across this collection of the sons of Ham in the midst of the land of Uz, their huts constructed of the massive stones which once com- posed the handsome dwellings of the descendants of Shem. The old granite columns are now built into the mud walls, and the carved entablatures arc plastered with cow -dung. The inhabitants, ragged and poverty-stricken in the extreme, con- sist of about 200 souls. The condition of this miserable, squalid population, in the midst of the * Chap. 33. THE MAKAM. 83 richest and most productive land imaginable, tells its own tale. The Makam possesses a character for sanctity in the eyes of the Arabs, which is its best protection. They seem to regard it with a superstitious awe, and neither levy black-mail upon the inhabitants nor plunder their gardens, whilst it also enjoys immunity from taxation by the Govern- ment. At the top of the mound, and almost sur- rounded by hovels, was an ancient temple sup- ported on nine arches. It is not used for sacred purposes now, but has been a Moslem place of prayer. Prior to this it Avas evidently a Christian church, as the old belfry and the internal arrange- ment and shape testify. But there arc traces of a yet greater antiquity in its columns and architec- ture ; and there can be little doubt that it has also been a Roman temple, and possibly, anterior to that, a sacred edifice of Phoenician worship. It is about twenty yards square ; and the roof, which is on a level with the top of the mound, is composed of slabs of stone nine or ten feet long, eighteen inches broad, and a foot deep. In the centre of the building is a monolith of black basalt; its base is 'embedded in the ddbris which has fallen in upon the floor, but which, if it were cleared away, would leave it about ten feet high. The top has been broken off. It is now pointed out as the Sakhrat Eyub, or stone to which Job resorted for relief 84 the land of GILEAD. from his cutaneous affliction, and is for that reason regarded with great veneration by the negroes, by whom it might be advantageously used for the same purpose ; but, as my friend Captain Phibbs suggest- ed,* it was doubtless originally a Phallic emblem. Everything points to the extreme probability of the ancient city, the ruins of which no doubt partially composed the present mound, having been a centre of Baal-worship. The old name has been lost, and I have been unable to find any clue identifying it as the site of a known city ; but in the immediate neighbourhood are two villages — one now called Ashtereh, and the other Tel Asherah. The for- mer I saw at a distance, but did not visit, as we were assured that no ruins of any kind existed there; the other I will describe presently. It is reasonable to assume that one of these is the site of the ancient Ashtaroth, one of the Levitical cities located in the half- tribe of Manasseh, and given, with its suburbs and surrounding pasture- lands, to the Gershonites (i Chron. vi. 71). Ash- erah is the symbol of the goddess Ashtaroth, the principal female divinity of the Phoenicians, as Baal was the principal male divinity. Both names are frequently used in the plural — signifying possibly, when so used, the androgynous character. Thus Baalim may have included Baal and Ashtaroth as one duality ; while Ashtoreth included Baal and Ashtaroth also, as two in one. In the earlier ASHTAROTH. 85 books of the Old Testament, only the singular form, Ashtaroth, occurs, though Baal and Baalim seem to be used indiscriminately. The first we hear of the feminine plural is when Solomon “ went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,” The original conception, before it became degra- ded into an obscene idolatry, was evidently that of a dual first cause, and may have been derived from a belief in the creative principle Elohim, the singular of which is Eloah, indicated in the 26th and 27th verses of the first chapter of Genesis. The word Baal, separated from its idolatry, simply means lord and proprietor of all ; while Ashtaroth seems to have been either the goddess of the moon, or the planet Venus. Hence her successor in Greek mythology was Astarte, and Baal became looked upon as the sun-god. Strabo mentions the goddess Aphrodite under the name of Attara, which is probably identical with Ashtera; and Lieutenant Wilford ^ calls attention to the circumstance that Atavi, the “ Goddess of the Grove” of Hindu mythology, was also called Ash- tdrd, and that a pyramid in her honour, by name Ashtdrd-DevI, is placed by the writer of the Purina ' on the Cali river, in the woods of Tapas. This Ashtird or Atavi is identical with the goddess Amba, whose consort, Bhava, was the author of existence. ‘ Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. p. 389. 86 THE LAND OF GILEAD. The proximity of a village which still preserves without change the name of the symbol of the goddess, can leave very little doubt that the temple containing the ancient monolith at Sheikh Sa’ad must have been originally dedicated to Baal, and the scene of Jewish idolatry. Among the nations left “to prove Israel by,” were the Zidon- ians ; the Hivites, that dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal - Hermon to the entering in of Hamath ; and the Amorites, who dwelt in this very country : and we are told that “ they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim and Ash- erah,” or, as that word is rendered by the translators, “the groves.” If our conjecture that the monolith at Sheikh Sa’ad represents what we suppose it to have done, it becomes one of the most ancient and interesting monuments in Syria, — the only one, in fact, so far as I am aware, in existence, which wc can still trace as a record, in their own country or its vicinity, of the worship of the Phoenicians. It is about seven miles from Sheikh Sa’ad to Tel Asherah. The road is over a fertile plain, and crosses first the Wady el Lebweh, and then the Wady Yabis. Both these contain affluents of the Yarmuk, but they are occasionally dry in summer. Shortly after quitting Sheikh Sa’ad, we leave on the right, about two miles distant, the village of Ashtereh, standing out on the plain. Just before arriving at Tel Asherah we cross the principal source it&jr/ord VILLAGE OF ASHERAH. 87 of the Yarmuk, by the old Roman bridge of nine arches, one of which has fallen in, and has not been repaired — now called the bridge of Sira. The Yarmuk at this point is just sinking below the level of the plain through which it has been mean- dering, and in the course of the next mile plunges down a series of cascades into the stupendous gorges through which it winds, until it ultimately falls into the Jordan below Gadara. This river was called Yarmuk by the Hebrews, Hieromax by the Romans, and is now called the Sheriat el Mandhur, from a tribe of Arabs who pasture in its valley. Below the bridge are some ruins — probably, from the shape of the foundations, those of a temple; but only a few trunks of prostrate columns and carved entablatures are visible among the large square blocks of dolerite of which it was built. We had two Kurdish zaptiehs with us, whom the Mutessarif at Sheikh Sa’ad had insisted upon our taking as guides and protectors; but they could not tell us whether this ruin had a name, nor was there a creature in sight whom we could ask. About a mile beyond, on the right, is situated the village of Asherah, crowning a mound or tcl ' about seventy feet high. Its situation is strikingly picturesque. On the one side is the gorge of the Yarmuk, and on the other the plain is cleft by a chasm, at the head of which is a small waterfall. On the high projecting promontory between the 88 THE LAND OF GILEAD. gorge and the chasm are the abundant remains of what was once an ancient city, strongly fortified in rear by three tiers of walls, which may still be very distinctly traced. It must have been impreg- nable. A few wretched huts compose the present village, but the traces of a departed grandeur lie strewn in every direction. I observed nothing dur- ing my hurried survey of the surface-remains, which did not belong to the Greek and Roman type of architecture, common to the civilisation which pre- vailed in this part of the world during the first and second centuries after Christ. We walked through the dSris , — as none of the remains w'ere standing, they could scarcely be called ruins, — and sat on a prostrate column on the extreme verge of the preci- pice, which surrounded us on three sides, and looked down the winding gorge, with the Yarmuk at least 500 feet below us. Our arrival produced the great- est interest and commotion, and in a few momen,ts we were surrounded by an admiring and wondering crowd. It w'as quite impossible, how'ever, to extract any information out of them as to any objects of interest which there might be in the neighbour- hood, and we had no time to explore for ourselves. There can be little doubt that the sides of the gorge are honeycombed with cave-dwellings, after the invariable manner of the former inhabitants of the Hauran, and that the explorer would find himself w'ell repaid by an examination of a spot so replete ASHTAROTH KARNAIM. 89 with the interest and association attaching to a civil- isation and a worship of which this must have been a centre. It is probable that Ashtereh, the village we saw but did not visit, is the site of the ancient Ashtaroth. The only traveller who has ever de- scribed it is Captain Newbold; but he did not visit Tel Asherah, and was apparently unconscious of its existence. In a paper contributed to the Royal Geographical Society,^ he says of Ashtereh that it is “situated on a mound from 50 to 100 feet in height — the base of trap, and its upper part covered with a peculiar dark -coloured soil, mingled with stones and fragments of ancient pottery. Near the base of the hill ancient foundations of massive stones, hewn and unhewn, tan be distinctly traced. The soil of the surrounding plain is strewn with fragments of stone and pottery.” Captain Newbold assumes, I think with reason, that this village is the site of Ash- taroth ; but there is another Ashtaroth mentioned in Scripture, where “ Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, smote the Rephaims in Ashtaroth Karnaim” (Gen. xiv. 5), or Ashtaroth of the two horns or peaks ; and there seems to me to be good ground for assuming that while the Ashtereh de- scribed by Newbold may be identical with Ashtaroth, the Tel Asherah we visited, and which, so far as I am aware, has not been examined before, may be the site of Ashtaroth Karnaim, for the following reasons : — ^ Proceedings R. G. S., vol. xvi. : 1846. 90 THE LAND OF GILEAD. In the wars which took place between Judas Maccabeus and Timotheus, we read that the latter took refuge in a fortress called Camion, which is elsewhere alluded to in the First Book of Macca- bees, V. 44, as Carnaim, a city of Galaad, celebrat- ed for its temple of Atargatis, which can be none other than Ashtaroth Carnaim. It is described (2 Macc. xii. 21) as “ impregnable and hard to come at, by reason of the straitness of the places” — a description which exactly tallies with the strategical position of Tel Asherah. Here, after taking Timo- theus prisoner and routing his army with a great slaughter, Judas moved to Ephron, “a strong city,” which he also took, advancing then to Scythopolis or Bethshan. The site of Ephron is not known; but the position of Scythopolis — which is nearly opposite the mouth of the Yarmuk — relatively to Tel Asherah, which is on its banks, affords a strong presumption that the campaign was in this part of the country, and that Tel Asherah and Ashtaroth Karnaim may be identical. The temple of Atargatis at Ashtaroth Karnaim was destroyerl by Judas Maccabeus (i Macc. v. 44). The goddess Atargatis is represented on ancient coins with a fish’s tail, and was apparently the femi- nine correlative of the god Dagon, who is described in the Bible as having “ a fishy part ” or “ stump ” (i Sam. V. 4). Plutarch says that some regarded her “as Aphrodite, others as Here, others as the CONNECTION BETWEEN DAGON AND ASHTAROTH. 91 cause and natural power which provides the prin- ciples and seeds for all things from moisture.” Porter considers her identical with Ashtoreth. It is just possible that the ruined temple we saw near the bridge, only a mile distant, may have been that once dedicated to this divinity. A curious confirmation of the connection which existed between Dagon and Ashtaroth or Atargatis, is to be found in the capture of the body of Saul in Gilboa by the Philistines, when “ they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth ; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth- shan” (i Sam. xxxi. 9, 10). And it is added, in the account in Chronicles, that “they fastened his head in the temple of Dagon" (1 Chron. x. 10). Bethshan is about forty miles to the west of Tel Asherah — no very great distance to send the head and armour as an evidence of their achievements to their people, and as a thank-offering to their idols. As Ashtoreth was the goddess of the moon, the two horns may be in allusion to the crescent, which was her symbol. That Ashtaroth Karnaim should have been “ a strong and great city, hard to be- siege,” and in the land of Gilead, might all apply to this Ashtaroth ; but Eusebius and Jerome, in the ‘ Onomasticon,’ describe Ashtaroth Karnaim as 92 THE LAND OF GILEAD. “ Vicus grandis in ang^Io Batanseae.” And they speak of two villages of the same name which lay nine miles apart — “ inter Adaram et Abilam . civitates.” Now I have already alluded to the two places, one called Tel Asherah and the other Ashtereh, about seven miles apart ; and at this point we were almost equidistant, as the crow flies, from Adra or Derd and Abila, the one lying about eleven English miles to the south-east, and the other about fourteen miles to the south - west. Porter denies altogether that the identification of the modern Adra or Derd as Edrei, the former capital of Og, the King of Bashan, by Euse- bius, is sound, and places it, apparently with rea- son, at the south - west corner of the Lejah, at a place still called Edra by the Arabs — a sound which corresponds more nearly to Edrei than Derd, and lying about fifteen miles to the north - east of the spot on which we stood. Derd, however, which has been visited and described by Wetzstein, is unques- tionably the site of the important Roman town of Adraha mentioned in the Peutinger tables ; while it is the most wonderful underground city, with its streets of deserted houses and subterranean market-place, which has yet been discovered, and would well repay further exploration. Whichever be the site of the ancient Edrei, Tel Asherah would still correspond to the definition of the city of Og, who “ dwelt in Ash- tarolh in Edrei ’’ (Deut. i. 4), “ at Ashtaroth and at ASHTAROTH KARNAIM. 93 Edrci” (Josh. xii. 4, xiii. 12), or “who was at Ash- taroth ” (Josh. ix. 10). Eusebius says, “ Ashtaroth Karnaim is at present [about a.d. 310] a very large village beyond the Jordan, in the province of Arabia, which is also called Batana;a: here, according to tra- dition, they fix the home of Job.” The fact that Euse- bius and J erome so exactly describe the position of the two villages relatively not only to each other, but to the two towns of Dcra and Abil, and that Eusebius calls Ashtaroth Karnaim the home of Job, whose residence is to this day shown in its immediate proximity, disposes, I think, of Wetzstein’s elabor- ate argument, in which that careful and painstaking traveller endeavours to prove the identity of Ash- taroth with the ancient Bosra. The subject is one which it would not be difficult for those skilled in the identification of sites to clear. The writer upon it in Smith’s ‘ Dictionary of the Bible ’ says : “ The only trace of the name yet recovered in these inter- esting districts is Tell Ashtereh or Asherah, and of this nothing more than the name is known.” In Baedeker’s Guide, usually most accurate, nothing is said of this Tel Asherah, though it is marked in his map, but not mentioned in the text, on the route on which it lies. In Dr Smith’s map, Ash- taroth Karnaim is placed at the modern Sanamen, twenty miles to the north of Tel Asherah; and the position of this latter village and the country round Sheikh Sa’ad is by no means accurately de- 94 THE LAND OF GILEAD. fined, while Wetzstein’s, Ritter’s, Kiepert’s and Van der Velde’s configuration of this region are all ex- tremely defective ; though there seems to be a gen- eral consensus on the part of some of the latter, which is shared in by Ewald, to place the Ashtaroths at these villages. Porter says that there is nothing to fix the identity of Tel Asherah with Ashtaroth, as the resemblance of the names is only apparent. But the Hebrew word “Ashera,” translated “groves” in the Bible, and always mentioned In connection with Baal, is identical with the Arabic word by which this place is known ; while the word “ Ashtereli,” which still more closely resembles “ Ashtaroth,” is retained by the natives as the name of the adjacent village. In Porter’s route from Tel Asherah to Nawa he makes the unaccountable omission of leaving out Sheikh Sa’ad altogether, the proximity of which to Tel Asherah, with all its interesting associations con- nected with Job, tend so strongly to confirm the identity of this ruined stronghold with Ashtaroth Karnaim ; but he never seems personally to have visited any of these nlaces. That the four mounds upon which the monastery and temple of Job and the villages of Ashtereh and Asherah are respec- tively situated would richly reward excavation, I have very little doubt. Tel Asherah possesses, however, an historical in te.est of a Tar more recent date than that which w ; TEL ASHERAH. 95 have been endeavouring to attach to it ; for it was made the rendezvous by Saladin for that famous army with which he afterwards vanquished the Cru- saders at Hattin in A.D. 1187. When Count Ray- mond of Chatillon, then Lord of Kerak, broke the truce which he had made with the Saracen chief, and plundered a Moslem caravan on the Hadj from Damascus to Mecca, killing the men and carrying off the women, Saladin was able to take advantage of the indignation created by this breach of faith to unite the contending Arab factions, and to collect them into an army, which he assembled at Tel Asherah, and with which he conquered nearly all Palestine. I could only regret that, the object of my journey being in no way connected with the past, and the time at my disposal limited, I had neither the pre- \ious knowledge nor the conveniences necessary for exploration of this kind, and that my observations are therefore cursory and superficial in their charac- ter. I could not but wonder that a region compara- tively so acc'^ssible and so full of interest should not have been more thoroughly explored. The absence of tents, as well as the necessity of getting through my work as speedily as possible, rendered it impossible for me to linger over these and other ruins which I visited. The field fo.r antiquarian and archaeological research in these regions is so vast and enticing that, if one has any 96 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Other object in view, the temptation must be steadily resisted.^ While I was sketching the view of the gorge, Captain Phibbs tried to get something out of the crowd. But beyond the fact that they were very poor — which was a self-evident proposition — and that the whole male population of the place was present, we did not derive much information. I counted the male population, and it amounted to forty. They were very civil, and brought us some coffee — which was, however, of the most undrinkable description ; and I had some difficulty in forcing them to take remuneration for their hospitality : they were as proud in their politeness as they were poverty-stricken. I longed to scramble down to the bed of the Yar- muk and follow it up to the bridge of Sira, so as to see the cataracts and examine the sides of the gorge ; but the necessity of leaving ourselves time to reach Irbid, where we had decided to spend the night, rendered this impossible, and I reluctantly turned my back upon a .spot which had proved of such deep and unexpected interest. ' It is a natter for congr.itulation that the Palestine h'xploration Society have recently decided to undertake the survey of h^astern Palestine. From a ^^eo^raphical point of view the results which will be obtained must prove most valuable, as the map which has been produced by the American Sur\'ey — with the exception of that part of the T$elka which had been previously surveyed by Colonel Warren - ‘ill lea^''*s r.^ach to be desired. 97 CHAPTER IV. WE ENTER GILEAD — MEZARIB THE CAVMA ROOB IRBID — A SURLY CADI VIEW FROM THE CASTLE — THE RUINS OF ABILA . — SUBTERRANEAN DWELLINGS AND STONE HOUSES AT IRBID — A RAID UPON THE BENI SUKHR — THE RUINS OF CAPITOLIAS — UNDERiiROUND EXPLORATION AN ENERGETIC CAIMAKAM — SUMMARY PUNISHMENT OF THE BEDOUINS — ARAB CUSTOMS. Wk were now riding over plains which had been the battle-field of Chedorlaomer with the Rephaim giants; of the Israelites with Og, the King of Bashan; and the scene of sundry conflicts between the invading Assyrians and the Jews, for across these plains the former marched to invade Palestine, and the brunt of the sl'^ck of hostile attack from the east invari- ably fell :'^bn Gad and Manasseh. And it was on these plains, here cleft by the Yarmuk, that in a.d. 636 the Arabs, inspired by the frenzy of a new reli- , i gion, fought that bloody battle with the Byzantines which drove out Christian civilisation, such as it was, from Syria, and established Moslem supremacy. And so, passing out of the land of Bashan, we entered “ the land of Gilead, a hard, rocky region,” its name signifies, though the country Ave were G 98 THE LAND OF GILEAD. now ridinof over would not come under that defini- tion. It is probable that Gilead extended to this point, and that it was sometimes used in a wider sense in the Bible than its geographical limits would imply, and included the southern part of Bashan. We are told that half Gilead was possessed by Sihon, King of the Amorites, and the other half by Og, King of Bashan, the Jabbok being the boundary between the two (Josh. xii. i-6). Moses ofave to the half- tribe of Manasseh “half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan” (Josh. xiii. 31). According to Porter, the land of Gilead extended from the Yarmuk on the north to the valley of Heshbon on the south, which would make it about sixty miles long ; wdiile its breadth, by Biblical inference, would be about twenty miles. Our present position would in that case have been in its extreme north-east corner. The pas- ture-land of Jaulan was here giving way to cultiva- tion, and in an hour we reached Mezarib, a station on the Hadj or pilgrimage road from Damascus t > Mecca, and the great grain centre of the Hauran. As commercially it is one of the most importai^t places in this district, we had been looking forward to it as a towai possibly possessing some signs of civili.sation ; but we were most grievously di-sap- pointed. It was relatively large — that is, it nia)' have contained 800 or 1000 souls, but they lived in the usual collection of squalid huts ; and the attempt MEZARIB. 99 at a bazaar, in which there were a few dirty little shops, was only an additional indication of the primi- tive condition of the country and its inhabitants generally. There was a large khan, which had been finished only a few years ago by Zia Pasha, at a cost of 469,000 piastres, but it has since been abandoned, and is now rapidly falling into ruin; and there were tortuous, narrow, evil-smelling streets, and a mias- matic atmosphere generally about the place, which quite accounted for its bad reputation in a sanitary point cf view. In winter the whole place is flooded ; and even on the occasion of our visit, there was too much standing water for health. A copious Avarm spring gushes out of the earth Avith force enough to turn a mill AA'hich has been established here to grind corn for the pilgrims. It is one of the fcAv mills in the Av^orld Avhich is turned by tepid Avater. The stream, after turning the mill, runs into the snlall lake of El Bejeh, in Avfliich there are several Avarm springs : it is extremely clear, and abounds Avith fish. In the middle of it is an island, covered Avith huts, and approached by a causeway. The .Owerid, on issuing from this lake, after a short course precipitates itself over a ledge sixty feet in height, forming a fine cascade, and is in fact one of the sources of the Yarmuk; and on the opposite side of it from the village is an old castle, containing a mosque and some storehouses, also in a decaying condition. It is said to have been built by the Sul- 100 THE LAND OF GILEAD. tan Selim, the Ottoman conqueror of Syria, about the year 1 500 ; but the materials of which it is composed are of much older date, and Burckhardt found a Greek inscription turned topsy-turvy in the wall, “ to the memory of Quadratiames, son of Diogenes, who was beloved of all, and lived seventy years.” On the opposite side of the small lake are some carved basaltic blocks and other Greek remains, indi- cating that it had formerly been the site of a town. Altogether, if it is not an inviting spot, it possesses the merit of a certain picturesque quaintness and originality, and during the time of the halt of the Hadj, must be a bustling, interesting place. At that period there is a fair held here, which lasts for ten days. There has been a project on foot to connect it with Damascus by a tramway, which should tap the grain-growing district of the Hauran, and feed the road of the French Company from Damascus ti; Beyrout. I doubt, however, whether, until a rail- way is brought into the country, it will ever be worth while to make a tramway, the only termination of which will be a carriage-road. The true port of the Hauran is not Bey-out, but Haifa or Acre, to which latter place at present all the corn of the Hauran is conveyed by camels, by way of the southern part of Jaulan, and across the Jordan just below the Sea of Tiberias. We left Mezarib by the broad track of the pil- grims’ road to Mecca, keeping a due southerly THE CAVEA ROOB. 101 direction, and leaving Derd, or the controverted Edrei, about five miles on our left. For an hour or more we traversed a rich, well-cultivated, undulating country, passing in half an hour the dry Wady Talid, and shortly after the Wady Zeidy, both falling into the Yarmuk, and spanned by old Roman bridges ; then we turned off to the right from the Hadj road, and crossed high rolling downs, and our zaptiehs told us we had now left Hauran and had entered Ajlun, We stopped to rest in a gorge between the cliffs of chalk where there was a spring and some small trees — the first we had seen since leaving Banias. This Wady, which was the largest and most pre- cipitous we had crossed, was, I believe, here called the Wady Rahub, and lower down the Wady Shellaleh. From the fact of the numerous cav- erns in its chalk cliffs, and its position, I am in- clined to think that in it are the Cavea Roob men- tioned in the History of William of Tyre, in which (lib. xxii. c. 2 i) it is .said that the Crusaders, on their return from a marauding expedition in Hauran, wished to reconquer a strong position, the Cavea Roob, which they had lost a short time before. 1 his place,” says the hisstorian, “ lies in Suite, a dis- trict distinguished by its pleasantness; and Baldad, Job’s friend, who is on that account called the Suite, IS said to have come from it.” Now the gorge in which we were lunching formed the northern bound- ary of the modern Zuweit, a district which, on emerg- 102 THE LAND OF GILEAD. ing from it, we merely skirted, leaving it to the south-east. And again the same historian says, “ After having passed Decapolis [the district we were now entering], we came to the pass of Roob, and further on into the plain of Medan [this is the plateau across which we had been riding from Mezarib], which stretches far and wide in every direction, and is intersected by the river Dan [so the Yarmuk was called in the time of the Crusaders], which falls into the Jordan between Tiberias and Scythopolis.” It is probable that the numerous caverns by which we were surrounded were none other than “ the swinging caves of Roob,” or Mu’allakat Rahiib, which seem first to have been discovered by Wetz- stein in i860, and Avhich are doubtless identical with the Cavea Roob of William of Tyre; but I did not then know the interest which attached to the spot. Clambering up the opposite side of the gorge, we found ourselves on an elevated undulating plain. There was something so pure and exhilarating in the air, that our whole cortege, including the baggage- mules, started off at a gallop ; and I could well under- stand that a belief should exist at Damascus that the whole of this region is free from disease, and that the inhabitants should flock thither to escape local epi- demics. The Romans were so well aware of its salubrious character that they called it Pahestimi Solutaris ; while with the poets of Hauran “ the cool- blowing Nukra” is a favourite expression. CAVE-DWELLINGS. 103 Soon after leaving the gorge we reached the troglodyte village of Es Sal, and crossed an old Roman aqueduct which used to supply the city of Gadara with water, distant twenty miles to the west. A large part of the population of Hauran and this part of Ajlun still live in caves. In the Bible this land was called the land of the giants (Deut. iii. 13), and there can be no doubt that in those ancient times the population lived principally in subterranean dwellings, the massive entrances to which were slabs of stone ; indeed, there is probably no country in the world where an immigrant population would find such e.Kcellent shelter all ready prepared for them, or where they could step into the identical abodes which had been vacated by their occupants at least fifteen hundred years ago, and use the same doors and windows. The grottoes in which the squalid population of Es Sal lived, were not sufficiently tempting for us to stay and explore, the more especially as it was getting late, and we certainly had no fancy to pass the night in them ; so we pushed on over the fresh breezy country to Irbid. Here we found tliat the Caimakam or local author- ity was absent on an expedition against the Arabs, and that the Cadi or judge was the principal official in the place. This worthy, however, proved to be a Moslem of the most bigoted type, and did not rise to receive us when we entered, or even ask us to sit down. As he was not in his own house, but in 104 THE LAND OF GILEAD. the reception-room of the Caimakam, we seated our- selves on the divan without further ceremony, and proceeded to make ourselves comfortable. The Cadi, after apparently hesitating whether he should try to turn us out or go out himself, decided on the latter course, and we occupied the apartment during the remainder of our stay. Fortunately, the Caimakam’s secretary, who spoke French, was an intelligent and civilised individual, and knew that he would best please his chief by treating us with civility ; so he did all in his power to atone for the Cadi’s inhos- pitality. It appeared that the Caimakam had gone off with some soldiers in the direction of Mkes or Gadara, to punish the Beni Sukhr Arabs for refus- ing to pay the sheep - tax, and for resisting the zaptiehs who had gone to collect it, when they fired upon them and wounded one. There seemed to be some uncertainty as to the exact locality in which the Arabs were now to be found ; but we were anxious, if possible, to join the Caimakam, and wit- ness the operations against them. While we wen; in the midst of our consultation a sheikh of the Beni Sukhr arrived, and offered to escort us to his triln; at once. This was rather a suspicious invitation, considering the relations in which one section of it, at all events, stood towards the Government. Still, we might have been tempted to accept it if he would have consented to postpone his departure till the following day as our horses were too tired to pusli IRBID. 105 on with them at once. This he refused to do, but offered to take a letter to the Caimakam, to whose camp he assured us he was bound, for the purpose of conciliating that functionary, and offering satisfac- tion for the outrage which had been committed b)^ his tribe. So we gave him a letter begging the Caim- akam to let us know at once where we could join him, and the probable date of his return. There was still enough daylight left for a stroll, and we sallied forth under the guidance of the secretary, and ascended the hill, or rather mound — for it was not a hundred feet high — round the base of which the huts of Irbid arc clustered. Here we found the walls partially standing of what had once been a fortress, with trunks of columns strewn about, and the usual indications of the archi- tecture of an ancient civilisation. The mound upon which the castle stands is evidently to a great extent artificial. It is partially faced on the east side by a wall composed of blocks of stone of Cyclopean dimensions. In the highest part these reach an elevation of about thirty feet, and the wall extends for at least a hundred yards. Some of the stones are from fifteen to eighteen feet long, from three to five high, and from eight to ten broad. The view' from a dilapidated tower at an angle of the wall, as the sun set over Mount Tabor and the distant mountains of Palestine, was full of interest as well as beauty. We were immediately surrounded by a I06 THE LAND OF GILEAD. fertile undulating country, partially cultivated, but evidently capable of being made in the highest degree productive. To the east and north-east stretched the level corn - growing plains of the Hauran, with the Jebel Druse softly defined in the blue haze of evening. To the north we looked with interest on Tel el Paris, now so familiar to us, with the conical range beyond, extending to the spurs of Hermon, and the prairie country which we had traversed at its base. We even thought we could make out Tel Asherah and the station of Job. To the west the country seemed more rugged, but in places well wooded ; while the mountains of Ajlun to the south were heavily timbered to the summits with fine forests. We stood here at an elevation of a little over 2000 feet above the sea- level. The ancient name of Irbid was Arbela. Eusebius mentions it as a city of Gilead, and as being in the district of Pella, beyond Jordan. It may possibly be identical with the Bcth-arbel men- tioned in Hosea as the scene of a sack and mas sacre by Shalman (Hos. x. 14). When the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser came up to attack Samaria, he would naturally have passed through this country; but the notice is too v-ague to found anything defi- nite upon. There is another Irbid, formerly called Abila, about three miles west of Magdala, on the Sea of Tiberias, and which was doubtless the Abel- meholah, or “ meadow of the dance,” mentioned in ABILA. 107 I Kings iv. 12, and which has also been supposed to be Beth-arbel ; but there seems to be no war- rant for this, and it is important to discriminate between Arbel and the numerous places which have Abel for a prefix, signifying plain or meadow, and which have been converted into Abila. One of these, the modern village of Abil, I have already referred to, near the Huleh (p. 21); another is the site of the city of Abila, the capital of the tetrarchy of Abilene, situated in Suk Wady Barada, between Damascus and Baalbec, and the traces of which I saw at a later period ; and another is the Abil, situated about two hours and a half distant to the north of the Arbela I was now visiting. This Abil or Abila seems to be identical with the Abel Ceramim, or “ plain of the vineyards,” mentioned in Judges xi, 33 as the scene of the battle between Jephthah and the children of Ammon, whom he smote “from Aroer, ev^en till thou come to hlin- nith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter.” As Jeph- thah is said to have passed over Gilead and hlan- asseh in his pursuit of the Ammonites, and as this city was on the northern borders of Gilead, but in the territory of Manassch, it may safely be assumed to be the battle-;.';‘round in question. This is doubt- less the Abila alluded to by Eusebius when he calls nine miles distant from Ashtaroth Karnaim, it being in reality about fourteen English miles distant I 08 THE LAND OF GILEAD. from Tel Asherah, the possible identification of which with Ashtaroth Karnaim I have already in- dicated. It was one of the cities of the Deca- polis, and is further mentioned in another place by the same writer as “ Abila the wine-bearing, twelve miles east of Gadara ” — a definition so exact as almost to place the matter beyond a doubt. Abila was one of the episcopal cities of Palestine, and was captured by Antiochus the Great, along with Pella and Gadara, in the year 218 n.c., and was first dis- covered by Seetzen in 1805, who describes it as being situated in the angle of a mountain formed by two bases, the higher slopes of which arc full of caverns. The town was completely deserted, but the ruins attest its ancient splendour. Some beau- tiful remains of the ancient walls were discovered, together with a number of arches and of columns of marble, basalt, and grey granite. On the outside of these walls Mr Scetzen found a great many columns, two of which were of extraordinary magnitude, from which he conceived that there must have been formerly on this spot a temple of considerable mag- nitude. Mr Wetzstein is, I think, the only traveller who has visited Abil since Seetzen. The present village of Irbid is the seat of gov- ernment for the province of Ajlun, and contains a population of about 300 souls. Their dwellings consist generally of one, or at most two rooms, excavated from the side of the hill : the outside EXCAVATED DWELLINGS. 109 walls are composed of ancient blocks of dolerite stone, on which are often traces of carving ; the roofs are flat, and covered with clay, and form the principal lounge of the population, who collect there to gossip and inspect each other’s heads. The dogs also seemed to prefer the house-tops to bark from. This semi-subterranean mode of existence was evidently a continuation of the habits of the population from ancient times. We entered the liouse of one peasant, which was an old dwelling vault It was a spacious chamber excavated out of the hill, and bearing the marks of e.xtreme antiquity. The front was composed of immense blocks of stone, admirably jointed without cement, the frame- work of the door was all carved stone ; and there were sockets in the lintels and thresholds for pivots to work in, showing that formerly the door was a slab of stone turning on a stone hinge. On many of the stones were inscriptions in Greek, but they were too much effaced to read. The columns of the mosque were old, with carved capitals, but the remains of a Roman or Byzantine civilisation were comparatively modern. The real interest which attached to these hoary relics was one which con- nected them with the race anterior to that whose traces were self-evident. It is highly probable that the Jefuides and Ghas- sanides — the Arab emigrants from Yemen, who occupied this country for the first five centuries of no THE LAND OF GILEAD. the Christian era, who adopted Christianity, and attained a certain degree of civilisation — lived in these stone dwellings, and left their words carved in Greek on the stones; but it is not likely that they were the first to introduce this remarkable and unique style of habitation, of which, so far as I am aware, we have no traces in the region in the south of Arabia, from which they migrated. It seems more probable that they imitated the structure of the dwellings which had been the abodes of that ancient people who astonished the Israelites by die hugeness of their stature and the substantiality of their cities, if they did not actually adopt them, as Dr Porter supposes. In this very region wc are told “ that giants dwelt in old time ; and the Am- monites call them Zamzummims ; a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims ” (Dent. ii. 20, 2 1). This was “ the coast of Og, King of Bashan which was the remnant of the giants that dwellctli at Ashtaroth and at Edrci,” of whose sixty cities it is said that “ they were fenced with high walls, gates, and bar*-' ; ” and again, they are describctl as “ threescore great cities with gates and brazen bars” (i Kings iv. 13). It is not likely that all traces of them should have disappeared before the arrival of the Ghassanides, but more probable that the latter adapted themselves to the mode of lifb and dwelling that they found in their new country ; and it is by no means impossible that many of the THE REPHAIM. Ill massive blocks amongst which we stood, and which now sheltered the miserable population of Irbid, had been originally hewn by the possessors of the land more than three thousand years ago. As the same Hebrew word is sometimes render- ed “ Rephaim,” sometimes “ giants,” and sometimes “ dead,” it has been suggested that the Rephaim were troglodytes, and hence that they came to be identified with the dead. That these excavations should have impressed the invading Israelites as far more resembling tombs than dwellings is in the high- est degree probable, for the traveller nowadays has no small difficulty in distinguishing one from the other ; and it is very possible, therefore, that when they saw their enemies rising apparently out of the earth, the Jews should have given them the name which, according to Gesenius, may mean “buried giants.” At the same time, I think with b'rcshficld and others, that it is a decided misnomer to call these stone villages, which were undoubtedly built by the Ghassanide Arabs after the Christian era, “giant cities,” if by that term it is intended to assume that they were the identical cities built by the Rephaim. There were a few Christians at Irbid, but the greater part of the population were hlussulman. There was nothing, however, in their dress or ap- pearance to distinguish the professors of one re- ligion from those of the other, or from the sur- II2 THE LAND OF GILEAD. rounding Bedouins, The women wore the single robe like a night-gown, and left their faces un- covered ; and the men wore the abeih or Arab cloak, and kufeiyeh or head-dress, but their general aspect was ragged and uncouth. We were assured that on retiring to rest at night it was the custom of both sexes to dispense altogether with their gar- ments, and to sleep in primitive simplicity. There seems to be no trace of religious fanaticism amongst them, but, on the contrary, a tendency on the part of the professors of both religions to assimilaU; as much as possible their domestic habits and customs. Thus it is not an uncommon thing for a Christian to have two wives. I know that this is an assertion likely to be disputed : but I took some trouble in verifying it, and upon a future occasion met a man who assured me that he had been married again, while still living with his first wife, by the Greek priest ; and he mentioned the names of several others similarly situated, and appealed to the bystanders to confirm his- statements. Living in daily proximity with Mohammedans, who arc con- stantly in the habit of supplementing their wives, and being removed from the supervision of a large Christian community, it is possible in these out-of- the-way places, where the Christians sometimes are in a great minority, and there is often no resident priest, that they find it difficult to resist the force of example. Then the priest, when it comes to his IRBID. II3 knowledge, is puzzled what to do, if the man reso- lutely refuses to put either his first wife or the later addition away. So, as the less of the two evils, and possibly stimulated thereto by a small pecuniary gratification, he makes things square, so far as in him lies, by a marriage ceremony ; and the biga- mist feels more at ease in his conscience, while probably the priest does not think it necessary to mention so trifling a circumstance to his bishop, h'roni all I could learn, this is an irregularity con- fined to the Christian Arab population to the cast of the Jordan. Civilisation had actually attained to such a pitch at Irbid that there was an attempt at education ; and we looked in at the schoolroom, where there was a portal with an old inscription on it, and the chil- dren came trooping out to kiss our hands, after the manner of the juvenile population in these parts generally. Just below the village there was a large oblong tank, evidently very old. Some portions of the well - built walls were still remaining, while around it were strewn some sarcophagi of basalt, with sculptured figures and garlands in bas-relief upon them. The Caimakam was having some new houses built, or rather partially excavated, which were intended tv) be shops ; and there were a few stores in Avhich the Arab necessaries of life were to be obtained. His own house was almost the only one which had been built throughout. It stood in n 1 14 THE LAND OF GILEAD. a courtyard, and consisted of two rooms, of which one was his bedroom, while we occupied the other. Here we received sundry visits from the two or three functionaries who assisted him in his adminis- tration. Among others, was the officer in command of the zaptieh.s. He was a Tunisian, had been at the siege of Kars, and was very proud of the medal which he wore commemorating that event, and spoke of his exjaerience of English officers on that occasion in terms which were highly complimentary to them. We had decided to wait at Irbid until we received an answer to our letter from the Caimakam, and, in order to fill up the time, rode over to the village of I 3 eit-Ras, at which, we were told, there were some ruins. It was only about three miles distant to llu- north, and situated on a high hill of chalk and lime- stone. The intervening country was fairly cultivated with wheat and lentils. Here we found the remains of what had once been a tem[>le of some im{)ortance. It was approached from the cast by a colonnade, more than 200 yards in length, of basalt columi\ only the baso"^ of which were visible, while llielr fragments lay strewn on both sides in great pro- fusion. This was probably the via recta or main street of the town. A carved archway forming one of the entrances to the temple was still standing, and near it was a singular excavation 100 yards long by 20 yards broad, and about 15 in depth- Opening into this were large vaulted chambers. BEIT-RAS. US which may in old times have served either as dwellings or as storehouses. At present they were inhabited by the natives, who penned their sheep in some, lived themselves in others, or had con- structed for themselves huts out of the fragments of columns and carved capitals and architraves with which the place was strewn. It is not impossible that in old time the whole of this excavation was roofed over and formed a subterranean dwelling ; otherwise one scarcely secs how it could have been kept free from water. Indeed my first impression, until I saw the vaulted chambers opening on to the floor, was that it had originally been intended as a reservoir. This clearly could not have been the; case ; and the probability is that the columns, of which the fragments remain strcwni on the floor, once supported a stone roof. A little distance from the temple to the west, are the remains of an aqueduct and a bath. Here were two stone slabs on which tw'o eagles were carved, both in e.xcellent preservation, and measuring three feet betw'een the tips of their wings. The wfliole popu- lation of Beit-Ras, which consisted of some forty or fifty souls, who all lived in the excavation, w’ere very puzzled and interested in our proceedings, and followed us mo it good-humouredly about, trying to discover why wc were so attentively examining the old stones amid which they lived. At last a bright thought seemed to strike one of them, and he [l6 THE LAND OF GILEAD. beckoned to us to follow him down the side of the hill. After going about a hundred yards, he stopped at a hole which was apparently the entrance to a cave, and invited us to crawl in. The aperture was so small, that in order to achieve this feat wc had to lie down and wriggle our bodies through the opening. I doubt whether a very stout man could have succeeded in squeezing through. But once inside, wc found ourselves in a circular cham- ber about twenty feet in diameter, supi^ortcd by a column in the centre, which had been cut out of the limestone rock. As wc saw that there were jiassagcs leading out of this room, wc sat tlown and sent for lights. The Arabs were highly delighted at this indica- tion of our intention to continue our exploration, and soon returned with some feeble lamps. Fol- lowing a short passage which turned off to the left, we entered a room in which was a carved slab of stone that seemed to have been used as a door. The aperture which it may possiblj- once ha e closed, was now built up. We therefore returneil to the first chamber, and made our way along a passage about four feet high and three broad, which opened on the right. This was in places ])ar- tially blocked with fallen earth, and the heat was stifling. There were niches cut in the sides about a foot apart, apparently for purposes of ilhinii- nation. After following this gallery for nearly SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. II7 fifty yards, wc entered another chamber similar to those we had already seen. Out of this another passage led to the right. The opening to it, how- ever, was nearly choked with fallen earth, and we could only have entered it by great exertion and uncomfortable squeezing. Near it was another en- trance, which had been completely built up with large blocks of stone, and at its base was a passage, descending apparently into the bowels of the earth by a (light of steps, which, however, w'ere so covered with earth as to make any attempt at descent impos- sible. We might, perhaps, have scrambled into the passage on the right ; but by this time we were streaming with persinration, our lamps were grow- ing dim, and the sensation which wc had once or twice experienceil of sticking in a hole, without any positive certainty whether one could scpieeze through it or not, was so disagreeable, that wc were not tempted to pursue our investigations, more especiall}’ as the result would probably have been a series of cor- ridors and chambers similar to those wc had already explored. As far as we went, the passage was lead- ing steadily uphill, and in the direction of the temple at the top of it, so that it is not improbable that this was a subterranean means of communication between the temple and the outside of the town. The whole place is well worthy of a far more thorough e.xamina- tion than we were able to give it ; and so far as I am aware, the excavations have not been described by Il8 THE LAND OF GILEAD. any previous traveller, while there can be no doubt from their position that the ruins are those of the city of Capitolias, mentioned in the ‘Itinerary’ of Antoninus as being between Neve and Gadara, sixteen miles from the latter, and thirty-eight from the former. Capitolias, which must have been a place of some importance, is placed, in the Peutinger tables, at sixteen Roman miles from Gadara, and the same from Adraha, the modern Der’a. This would c.xactly locate it at Beit-Ras. It was an ancient episcopal city, and was the connecting-point of the two great Roman roads, one of which k;d from the west, eastwards through the Mauran, to Bozra and the Euphrates — and the other from the north, south- wards to Gcrasa or Jerash, and Rabboth Ammon or Philadelphia, traces of which still remain. We sat down near the Roman bath to rest after our labours, and the peasants brought us coffee, and seemed quite delighted with the novelty and e.xcite- ment of our visit. They were an amiable, harmless race, and refused, with some indignation, tlie money we offered them for the trouble they had taken to show us the cave, and the coffee they gav(i us after wards. A few more British tourists to Beit-Ras will soon cure them of this ignorance of the world, and initiate them into the manners of their countrymen elsewhere. It seemed a greater discovery to Imd a native of Palestine who did not know the mean- ing of the word backsheesh, than it was to identify BACK TO IRBID. 1 19 the site of an ancient city. While we were enjoy- ing the magnificent view which we obtained from the top of the hill, which is the highest point of the surrounding country, we suddenly became aware of a cavalcade" winding along the valley at our feet. This consisted of a posse of soldiers, some of them mounted on mules; half-a-dozen bedouin prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs ; twelve donkeys and twenty sheep, the spoils of the Caimakam’s raid on the Beni Sukhr, and r certain indication that he might soon be ex- pected at Irbid. We therefore wended our way back to that village without delay, and arrived almost at the same moment as the Caimakam. We found that the letter we had sent him had been returned to Irbid without having been de- livered, the courage of the sheikh having failed him. It was now evident that he was anxious for us to accompany him in order that we might act as intercessors ; but that, failing our personal presence, he had deemed it the safest course to keep out of the Caimakam’s way altogether, and to retire into the recesses of the desert. We found the Caimakam an exceptionally zealous and intelligent functionary. lie had travelled in Europe, spoke French and a little English, and seemed quite determined to introduce reform and good government into his district. His account of the origin of his dispute with the Arabs furnished 120 THE LAND OF GILEAD. a characteristic illustration of the nature of the abuses with which he had to grapple. It seemed that a member of the local Medjliss, or provincial council, had assumed to him.self the functions of tax- gatherer, and had been in the habit, without proper authority, of collecting the sheep-tax from the Arabs. The method of his procedure was not an uncommon one in these parts, and was modelled very much on that of the unjust steward. Me allowed the Arabs to make; a return of about half the sheep they really owned, on condition that they paid him the tax on the other half, and insured them against any further trouble in the matter. Half of this he gave the (jovernment, and the other half he kept himself, bribing troublesome colleagues or superiors to kee p their mouths shut. The Government, by^ these means, was robbed of three-quarters of the tax. The present Caimakam, on discovering the fraud, deter- mined to put a stop to it, and warnetl the Arabs that they Avere not to pay the sheep-ta.x except to the zaptiehs whom he woxdd send to collect it. This Avarning the mc'nber of the iNIodjliss, Avho Avas a rich and influential man, persuaded them to disregard ; and AA'hen the zaptiehs Avere sent, the Arabs not onl\' refused to pay the ta.x, but fired upon them. "I'hc Caimakam upon this instantly started himself, Avith about a hundred men of an infantry regiment mount- ed on mules — a most useful cor[)s for the purpose for Avhich it is noAV being used in these provinces — snr- “THE CHILDREN OF THE ROCK.” I2I prised the Arabs by night, and seized the spoil which we had seen brought into Beit-Ras. He calculated that he had cai^tured enough to pay the tax, and he intended to keep his prisoners as hostages until cer- tain members of the tribe, who were the ringleaders in the resistance, and had taken the most active share in it, should be brought in. The Beni Sukhr, or “ Children of the Rock,” are notorious for their predatory propensities, and have long been the terror of travellers to the east of the Jordan — demanding heavy black-mail, and ruthlessly plundering all who do not consent to pay it. It was most fortunate for us that they had just received this chastisement, as it insured our safety in the country through which we were about to travel, and which, under ordinary circumstances, can never be traversed exceiit umler their escort. They had now betaken themselves to the deserts to the east of the Hadj road ; and so far as they were concerned, we were pretty secure, though of course there were other tribes to be taken into consideration. We had a great deal of most interesting conversa- tioii with the Caimakam on the subject of the Arabs, his experience of them having been very extensive. It was his opinion — as, indeed, it is of every intelligent mai, who has any knowledge of the subject — that the country to the east of the Jordan could easily be brought into order if the pilgrimage to Mecca by the Hadj road from Damascus was dis- 122 THE LAND OF GILEAD. continued. This is a drain upon the Government, in one form or other, of nearly 100,000 a-year, of which a very larg'e proportion goes into the pockets of the Arabs, who supply the camels, and who are paid black-mail. If any attempt is made to reduce them to order or punish their robberies, they retali- ate on the Government by refusing to supply camels to the Hadj, or by delaying its passage at points where it is comparatively defenceless until the requi- site amount is paid, to atone for whatever grievance they may consider that they have against the au- thorities. This gives them a sense of indei)endencc which makes them extremely difficult to manage; but if they Avere once f a mile, owing to the conformation of the country. There can be no doubt that many int(*resting remains are to be lound in this almost unknown section ot countr)', but my object was not so much to look for ruins •ts to examine the topographical features of the country-, with a view to a possible line of railway along the valley of Yarmuk. From what I already 132 THE LAND OF GILEAD. saw, the indications were in the highest degree unfavourable. The necessity of dividing our day’s journey, in a country where the population was so sparse, in such a manner as to insure us some sort of ac- commodation at night, made exploration more diffi- cult than If we coultl have pitched a tent where wc chose ; but this, again, would have involvetl so much extra conveyance for food and baggagrings of El I lamma combined. This warm fertilising water has made this valley a tropical paradise. I counted here eighteen difierent tropical trees and shrubs, and I am certain there are more. It is almost impossible to penetrate tlu; immense jungle, while- above the tangled mass of ve-getation there rise o o two hundred graceful jxilms — the whole, as one look.s dow'n upon it from the neighbouring hills, forming one of the most bt;autiful landscapes in Syria. Here and at El Hamma there are three- mills that are run 1 )y water at a temperature of over i’alestine Exploration .Society. Fourth .Statement. New Vurk: Jaauar. i.S;-. THE BATHS OF AMATHA. 139 100°. About a mile east of ’Mkhaibeh, and on the same side of the river, there is a beautiful little lake of cool sweet water, called Birket El Araies, or Fountain of the Brides. It has no outlet or inlet, is nearly circular, and I was twenty-five minutes in walking round it. Ducks and some other water-fowl are found here, and the gentle slopes about the lake are green, and afford excellent pasture for the flocks of the Bedouin.” The Mandhur Arabs who people the valley of the Yarmuk are a peaceful tribe much given to agricul- tural ^ ursuits, and could be easily dealt with. A com[)aratively small sum, paid as black-mail, which, to avoid that invidious term, might be calked rent, would insure a peaceable tenure of the springs to any en- terjirising capitalists who might be disposed to under- take the operation of turning Amatha into a water- ing-place, which, indeed, woukl be very much to thc^ advantage of the natives, who woukl derive, inci- dentally, an abundant revenue from visitors and tourists. A more dangerous foe woukl be the Beni Sukhr, who, however, have no prescriptive right to the valley, and who could easily be kept in check, if it were not thou'dit desirable to [lay them, by the police and military force at the disposal of the Caim- akam at Irbid. With a fimctionarj’ as active and energetic as the present viccupant of the office, there would be no danger on this score. It is remarkable, considering tliat the Yarmuk is 140 THE LAND OF GILEAD. the most important affluent of the Jordan, that it watered the territory of Gad and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, and must have played an important part in the camj^aigns of Israel, that it should never once be mentioned in the Bible. Gadara, which stands on a lofty projecting spur between the Yarmuk and the gorge or Wady of the Araba, is destitute of water, and was supplied by the aqueduct which we crossed at Es Sal, and which is led from the head-waters of the Yarmuk. The ruins cover an area of about two miles in circumference; and the city must have been a place of imposing grandeur, alike from the magnificence of its situatinn as from the sjilendour of its public edifices. There seems to be no indication of its having l)c;cn a Jew ish city of any importance prior to its celel)rity as a ciuitn of Roman civilisation. The first historical notice we have of it is its capture by Antiochus the Great in the year 21S n.c., and the last is when it liecamc th( residence of the J 3 ishop of I’alastina .Secunda. We had been able to obtain no definite information as to the accommodation we were likely to lind :,t this place, but we were assured that it was inhabiteil. To our dismay we fr und that the three huts which htid once contained the (mtire {lopulation were now abandoned from fear of the Arabs, and. that then' was no sign of life visible. When we looked at what might have been our accommodation, we wen; consoled ; for the abodes of the inhabitants of f'*' THE WADY ARABA. 141 dara — or Mkes, as it is now called — were a com- bination of den and hovel which a respectable pig would have scorned. They no doubt abounded in vermin ; and even had there been food and water procurable, we should have preferred sleeping in the open air to risking a bed amid the filth with which the floor was strewn. The food question was, how- ever, paramount, and the necessity of reaching a vil- lage of some sort before dark compelled us to curtail our investigations of this interesting locality — which, however, since its first discovery by Seetzen in 1S05, has beoii frequently visited, so that there is nothing new left for the explorer but excavation, for which he would doubtless be amply repaid. We now turned our horses’ heads southwards, and plunged into the Wady Araba, descending about 1500 feet in an hour, by a narrow path worn out of the chalk cliffs, which wound down ravines and along the edge of precipices till it reached the torrent at the bottom, foaming between banks fringed with oleanders. Here there was a most picturesquely- situated old mill, with a wild Arab family as its only occupants, whose intelligence was so limited that we had (great difficulty in getting directions from them as to our future route. The Kurdish zaptiehs, who are not, as a rule, very profound Arabic scholars, ot course misunder.' tood them ; aiul the result was that, after scrambling up the opposite side of the Wady for an hour, we lost our way. 142 THE LAND OF GILEAD. It was now getting dusk, but we followed the best indication of a path we could find, hoping it would lead us somewhere before it became too dark for us to see it. Meantime I had plenty of opportunity of judgiiiicion that we had some reason for manifesting so decided a preference for the Christians, ^\’e felt this at the time, but there was such a tempting-looking house on the other side of the village, that we allowed our desire for our own comfort to ov'ercome considerations of policy and |)olitcness, and much to tht di.sgust of the zaptiehs, whom we rated roundly fur disobedien^'c of orders, rode off to investigate its capabilities. On our way we met a Greek priest, with light sandy unkempt locks hanging beneath his high square hat, a ragged garment, and bare feet, a very poverty-stricken-looking specimen of his l66 THE LAND OF GILEAD. profession ; but perliaps this was to his credit, as ht was the spiritual superior of the village, and might have used his position to enrich himself, as is com mon with his class all through Syria. Perhaps there was nothing to be got out of his (lock, who were as poor as himself ; perhaps there had been no great demand lately for bigamous marriages. However that may be, he was overwhelmingly polite, and not above a gratuity in consequence, and piloted us to the coveted mansion, where the big upper room had attracted us from afar. When one arrives at a village Avith zaptiehs, hos- jjitality is perhaps not .so much a merit as a necessit\ The traveller thus accompanied never thinks of ask- ing [jermission — lu' takes possession. As we never intended that our hosts should be losers, we had the less scruple in thus summarily installing ourselves wherever we took a fancy, even though, as in the present case, the house was tenanted by a lone widow Avith children. We had not beeir deceived by appear anccs — decidedly there Avas ikj such room in the vd luge as the one Ave noAV approj)riat(;d. It Avas on the roof of another chamber, situated, as usual, in a courtA’ard surrounded by a mud Avail, and containing oven, stables, cattle-pen, &c. ; and from it, had we so desired, Ave could have walked over the roofs of many adjoining houses, 2>ilcd one above the other on the hillside, their courtyards usually the scene of n good deal of feminine activity. Indeed, no soonei CHRISTIAN MAIDENS. 167 were we installed than all the widow’s lady friends came to look at us ; old women and younjj maidens Hocked to offer their services, and, under pretence of making themselves useful, to gratify their curiosity. Nor had wc any reason to object. Not only did they help to sweep out the room, bring mats and coverlets, fetch wood and water, stopping every now and then to gaze earnestly, like deer only half tamed, but they were objects of interest in themselves. In no part of Syria or Palestine have I seen such beau- tiful girls as among the Christian maidens of Ajlun. Theii faces were of the purest Grecian type ; their eyes large and lustrous ; nose, mouth, and chin clas- sical in their outline; their complexion a light olive; and the sjmmetry of their figur(;s, so far as one could judge, corresponded with the beauty of their faces. 'Pheir habit of carrying water-jars rendered their carriage easy' and graceful. On the chin, just below the under Ii[), they were usually tattoed with a blue mark like a small gridiron, which no doubt lends an additional charm when your taste has been properly educated to it, and is (juite as attractive as the small round piece of sticking-plaster calhxl a beauty-spot, whieh they’ may hope to arrive at when they' get to “tied backs,” instead of the loose blue Arab gowns which now form their only' garment. As our bustling entertainers possessed all our sympathies, and our zaptiehs, as usual, were gratuitously rough and overbearing, we packed them off to find quarters l68 THH LAND OF GILEAD. for themselves among their Moslem friends. The priest, who was a mild inoffensive personage, appar- ently devoid of intelligence, came and squatted on his heels in our room, w'here we regaled him with coffee, and endeavoured without success to extract information from him. Partly from suspicion and a fear of compromising themselves, and partly from the difficulty of grasjjing any ideas with which they are not familiar, the ordinary' villager in these parts is a person from whom it is very difficult to obtain intelligent answers to the most simple questions. From what we could gather, however, the Christian and Moslem population of Ajlun were not on siicli good terms as w'e had found them elsewhere, and a somewhat quarrelsome spirit generally seemed to pervade the vilfages in the neighbourhood. \Vc had still time, while Hanna was cooking onr dinner, to go out for a walk of exploration. Below our house, and close to the stream, was situatetl a handsome c^clifice, once a Christian church, which was converted into a mosque by some sultan, who has recorded the fact in an elaborate; inscription in 1 n.k- ish, which we coultl not read. The; building was a hundred yards long by' fifty broad, the roof suppoi ted by arches ; and a lofty' stjuan; tower, like a campanile, had once formed the belfty, and w'as now the haunt of the innezzin. Within a few' y'ards of this mo-scpie W'as a massive building of great antiquity, which we entered, and found that it had been erected over a RUINS AT AJLUN. 169 copious Spring, which filled a chamber twenty feet by ten, with bubbling water clear as crystal, and about a foot in depth. This gushed out into a venerable covered aqueduct, and was the chief water-supply of the village. All round us were traces of age, and of a departed greatness. Though I failed to perceive any prostrate columns or remains of Roman ruins, there is every probability that they exist, and that in former times Ajlun was a city of importance, though, so far as I know', it has not yet been identified as the site of any jdace know'ii either in Roman or Jewdsh history. Perclied on a projecting crag, about a hundred feet above the spring, w'ere the ruins of an old castle, which, until a comparatively late period, had been used as the resilience of the governor of the pro- s viiice, w'hen Ajlun formed its capital. It has been allowed since then to fall completely into disrepair, and probably dates from the timi; of the Crusaders, and is of .Saracenic origin. I'here can be no doubt that the antiquarian wdio should establish himself at Ajlun w'ould find abundant return for the trouble of e-Kaniination; w'hile no more be.autiful or healtliy .spot could be found, as a centre from which to explore the' surrounding country, teeming as it does with as.sociations of the deepest interest, and strewn tvith ruined cities, the identification of which has. yet to be determined. \Vc were reluctantly compelled by the growing darkness to curtail our owm investigations, though we 170 THE LAND OF GILEAD. were not sorry to sit clown to a well-earned repast, and were just sproadinnsich;reel a ma.tch for hull a village-. It is elite le> the Moslem peipul.ii'on to sa) that, hae.1 we threnvn oursedves in the lu-st instance AN ATTACK ANTICIPATED. I/I Upon their hospitality, we should not have incurred the slightest risk ; but they believed they had been insulted, and were probably encouraged in this belief by our zaptiehs, who were in a very bad humour, and quite in the spirit of revenge. Upon several occasions we had been obliged to reprove them sharply, and especially to express our regret to the one who had been in Beatson’s Morse, that he had not been improved by the discipline and punishments to which he had been subjected while in that distin- Ljuished ''orps. However, we thanked him for his warning, rolled back the stone when he had gone, examined our solitary revolver, and then our blankets. We consithmc'd the latter likely to prove of the great- est ser\ ice to us. They were so crowded with ileas that, were I not afraid of being accusetl of exaggera- liun, 1 should saj' the insects must have had some difficulty in moving about. It was quite evident that we should have no trouble in kei-ping awake and watching. The idea of being caught “naiiping" was manifestly out of the ([uestion. In fact, so little hope had we of going to sleep, that we determined, in spite of the projected attack, to do our utmost to accom- plish that object, but all our efforts were in vain. 1 think we should have been relieved if setmething had occurred to vary the occupation of monotonous sciatching. As it was — anil we discovered after- I'lndswhy our would-be as.sailants’ hearts failed them the last moment — we were the victims of no other THE LAND OF GILEAD. 172 attack than that made by these persistent and vora- cious little insects u2:)on our cuticle. I think a great many Kefr Assad fleas were here joined by those of Ajlun, and the whole were carefully rolled up in our blankets next morning, for our benefit on the follow- ing night. It is true that at early dawn I enlisted the willing services of some lovely village maidens to pick them out ; but the hosts were too numerous for them to make any im[)ression upon, and they gave up the task in despair. We tletermineil before leaving Ajlun to visit the Kulat er Rubud, or Castle of Rubud, which forms so cons}>icuous a feature in the landscape, the lofty hill on which it was situated rising almost immedi.iu lv from behind the village. After a steep ride of about half an hour up a winding {)ath, we reacheil the sum- mit, and found ourselves at an elevation of 3700 feet above the level .'ition of tb' country may be; gathered from the; fact that, whoi it became nccess.iry to j)rovieen married, and all the children, WADY YABIS. 175 huntlrecl marriageable virgins remained, who were carried off. This punishment was inflicted upon the inhabitants because they refused to answer the summons of the other tribes to make war on Ben- jamin in the first instance (Judges xxi, 8). Three hundred years afterwards the valley over which we were now looking became the scene of another ter- rific slaughter, for the Ammonites under Nahash came and encamped in it, and threatened to spare the town only on the condition that the entire male population would consent to having their right eyes thrust out. On obtaining seven days’ grace, and apj- pealing for help to Saul, an army of three hundred and thirty thousand men was collected in three days. .\fter a night-march, the Israelites “came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day ; ” and “ they whicli remained were scattereil, so that two of them were not left Umtither." If the country was as thickly wooded then as it is mnv, it was eminently adapted for a night-sur[)rise; and the difficulty ol escape back to Ammon, over the rocky passes ot (.dlead, would easily account for the: slaughter and dispersion ot the army' of Nahash, wnich was iu> doubt much outnum- bered by this immense; auel rapielly e:xtempeariseel ho.st (i Sam. xi.) On our return to the village; we found to emr sur- prise the energetic and iiulefatigabh; Caimakam of ^^j^un, whom we had partcel from at Irbid, camped 176 THE LAND OF GILEAD. under the trees. He had suddenly arrived with a company of mounted infantry, to put a stop to some village disputes, which threatened to culminate in acts of violence, and to restore order in a district which had been too long neglected by previous pro- vincial authorities, and which was, consequently, un- accustomed to control. It was doubtless owing to the timely receipt of the news of the Caimakam’s ai)proach late the night before, that we owed our immunity from the attack and robljery with which we had been threatened. It would seem that the pop- ulation of Ajlun and the adjoining villages were in a turbulent mood, and just in the humour for robbing strangers, for the)' were expecting an attack tVoni the inhabitants of Suf, a large and populous village, where we intended to lunch, 'i'he Caiinakain as- sured me that the sheikh at .Suf could bring fourteen hundred figliting men into the field ; but 1 think in this estimate the male inhabitants of other villages, together with a large number (;f nomad Arabs with whom he is allied, must have been included, as thc.e is no one village ; in the province which coukl lurnisii more than a tenth of that numljer out of its own |)i'[i Illation. 'I here is so little difference between the in- habitants of these villages, who are really sed' ntai> Arabs, anti the Jledouins, that in their disputes the) sometimes get the latter to help them. 1 he sheikh of .Stif, who had threateneil to make a descent upon Ajlun with this formidable force, wtis a rebellious in THE SHEIKH OF SUF. 1/7 tlividual, by name Hassan b^ffcndi Barakat, the most powerful chief in this region of country; and he was now doubly notorious for the revolt he had incited the previous year against the Turkish Government, when he refused to pay the taxes, and resisted the authority of the Government, then distracted by luiropean complications, with some success. Since then the movement had been repressed, but Hassan ItiTendi had not been punished, nor had the taxes been collected. I'higlish travellers who have visited Jerash nay remember a handsome but e.xtortionate and insolent Arab sheikh at Suf, who demanded, and always with success, an extortionate sum as black- mail, for which he gave them an escort and protec- tion durintr their visit to the ruins. This was none other than Hassan I '.ffendi Barakat, who was sitting on his heels, with his head bent down, in an attjtude of profound humility, in the presence of the Caima- kam when we roile up and dismounted. .After the first cordial greetings had been exchanged, we took our seats on the carpet l>y the side of the Cainiakam, while he explained the situation. We found a most interesting but gniltv-lcoking group of leading men arrayed before us, to each t>ne of whom a history of lawlessness of some sort was attached ; while the soldiers, with their horses tethered to the trees, were •grouped round, and some zaptiehs, of most brigand aspect, made up in picture.sfiueness for what they lacked in virtue. Then the Gaimakam, — pointing out M 178 THE LAND OF GILEAD. I lassaii Efifencli, who seemed quite conscious that his misconduct was being' descanted upon, and tried to look penitent, — after telling me his history, an- nounced that he was dismissed from the Medjliss or provincial council ; that he was disgraced from his position as head sheikh, anil must live henceforth in retirement and under surveillanci! ; and that fifteen years of arrears of ta.xes, the payment of which he hail refused during all that time, were to be made good by him,— -for wliich acts of clemency Ilassan endeavoured to look deeply grateful, and came ami matle low reverences to tin: Caimakam, and olise- quiously kissed my hand. 'I'here was, however, a look in his eye which suggested that it was an extreniclv hollow salutation, and that he would be glad of any favouralile op[)ortunity which might arise, when he could take his revenge for having performed it. W hen he returneil to his place, the Caimakam pointed t<) his next neighliour, a rem.irkably iiUcl- ligent-looking fine-featured man, with a flowing yel- low kiifriyci'i ^ .and dress cai'etully .and pieturesiiiiciy arranged, who was chief of the C hristian coinnniiiily of the neighbourinj; village of Kelrenjy, and wIm h.ad been suinmoued to arrange a blood lend which existed between them and the Christians of Ajhin, in consequence (if the murder, in a quarnd, ofonenf the latter, d'he guilty parties, biur in miinber, had been given Uji, and haniled over to the C.aini.ak.nn. ;ind guarantees had been reipiircd and obtained that SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES. 179 peace should be observed for the future. This chief also advanced and made his reverence to us, but was far more manly in his bearing and sympathetic in his manner than the sheikh of Suf. There were some other neighbouring notables to whom the Caimakam deemed it necessary to address some words of warning and good advice ; and I took advantage of the opportunity to com[)lain to him of the over- bearing manner of our own zaptiehs towards th(i country people, and they rexeived in consec|uence an adnioni on which was not without its good results. Then wi; drank coffee and smoked narghilehs, and discussed the political condition of the country, and the administrative problems which had to be dealt with. The Caimakam attributetl the disorder which had reigned so long to the east of the Jonlan entirely to llu' lack of ellicieiicy and energy on the part of those u[)on whom tint task had ilevolved of governing it, and to sinne extent to the. absence; of the necessarv armed force. Since; the; arrival of Midlhat Pasha five hundr(;d mounte.d infantry had been amply sufficient to establish peace and order, alike among the seden- tary and iKiinad jiooulation ; and he saw no reason "Iiy, with the aid of this small militar\- contingent, whom he much pr(;ferri;d to za[)tiehs, the most per- fect security should not reign from the slopes of l ler- •tton to the shores of tht' 1 )ead Sea. With a properly P^id local police, aided and supporteil by a small f’odv of regular troops. ord(;r could be maintainetl ; i8o THE LAND OF GILEAD. and, with a reform in the system of tax-collecting, the contentment and happiness of the peasantry in- sured. W e certainly were able to judge for ourselves of the effect of an energetic administration upon the country. We had seen the district near Gadara, usually so insecure, preiiared as it were for our recep- tion by the arm of the law, as represented by the Caimakam himself with a few soldiers, swiftly over- taking those who had violated it. We had witnessed at Ajlun the imtnediate effect i)roduced by the per- sonal presence of the same functionary, and the com- plete submission of a di.strict notoriously turbiilem : while the security with which we travelled to the end of our journey, through regions supposed to he inaccessible, e-xcei^ting by the payment of black-mail and accompanied by an escort, furnisluHl constant evidence of the salutary effect of an administration which showed a det(;rmin;ition to enforce and sustain its authority, d'ho princi[)le of the Ctiimakam ot Ajlun was, nf)t to be stitisfied with strnding iiiulcr- lings to settle disputes or enforce the hiw, but nt- stantly to pn;ceed himself to tin; scene of action ; and the rapitlity anti lu. expectedness of his movciin nts nttver failed to produce the desired etlect. Arab problem to the east of the Jounds?" we aske “It is the custom," he replied ; '■ no traveller has been allowed to visit the ruins without i)aYing me." “ riu n it is a bail custom, which must be ini mcdiatel)' discontinued,” we said. “ W e decline absolutely to pay a farthing." “ but no one has ever before ileclined. " “Then it is high time for some oiu' to set thi- example,” we remarked, and we calleil in the zap- tichs, who for the first time proved ot some use. I hey, anxious to prove their zeal and importance, and knowing that they ran no risk, as llu' Caiinakam and his .soldiers were within call, poured upon the head of the sheikh a torrent ol invective — telling him that they were a far better protection than •tay e.scort he could furni.sh, and that there was 184 THE LAND OF GILEAD. plenty more protection at Ajiun, about which, if he had any doubt, he had better send and ask his brother, who was in a position to give him all the necessary information — with many other sarcastic re- marks of a like nature, Avhich made all the surround- ing Arabs, who had begun to look truculent, change countenance considerably. Nevc^rtheless he went on murmuring and protesting, and offering us more tes- timonials, which we read out of curiosity, until we had finished our meal and our cigarettes, when wi; quietly mounted and rode away, leaving the sheikh, and the savage-looking group of Aral>.s by whom he was surrounded, staring open-mouthed at our audacity, but utterly impotent and paralysed l)y the new turn matters hail taken, thanks to an energetic Caimakam. The old R(nnan roatl which connected Pella with (lerasa or Jerasli, seems to have followed the track by which we came from Ajiun to Suf, for there are some traces of it near the latter village, where there was prob.'ibly a station ; here are also soim; remains of broken columns, on one of which is a (ireek inscription. 'I'hree springs near .Suf give rise tn .i stream which turns a mill or two, and llows down a charming glen, the \Vady-ed-I)eir, in which arc olive-groves of c.xtreme antiquity. We lollowed its windings down a gentle slf>pi: for more than an hour, itiul then sudilenly turned into the broad, shallow, and sorncv'hat desolate valley in which lie the im JERASH. 185 posing and extensive ruins of the ancient city of J crash. The forest had ceased on our leaving Suf, and except the oleanders which fringed the stream, no shrubs or trees relieved the barren aspect of the scene. Nevertheless the whole of this country is well watered, and susceptible of the highest cul- tivaiion, if a population equal in amount to that which once inhabited it so densely were only re- stored to it. We sat on one of the prostrate columns which sur- rounded the atrium or large court by which the great tcin[)le was enclosed, and gazed on the monuments, unsurpassed in their solitary grandeur, which testify to the magnificence of a former civilisation. From the eminence upon whicli the great temple stands we looked down upon the long colonnade that inter- sected the city, a hundred columns of which are up- right and intact - -whilt' of others the lower parts are still er(;ct, amid the (M/r/s of those that are shattered and prostrates ; upon the four huge peeUrstals which — once vaulted o\ (!r - -formed the tetraiiylon, where there was a cross street also linetl with columns : upon the three - archeil bridge which spans the stream ; upon the great [)ortal of the grand propy- leum, with the lemains of tht* basilica behind; upon the ruins of the baths beyoitil, ami far to the right, at the other end of the Via Columnata, upon the forum, encircleil by an Ionic colonnmle, of which fifty-seven columns are still standing ; upon the grand THE LAND OF GILEAD. 1 86 theatre, with its twenty-eight tiers of seats, and an- other temple beyond, close to the southern gate of the city. Behind us the grand temple, dedicated to the sun, reared its imposing pile. Out of the thir- teen columns which adorned it, eleven remain erect, the largest measuring about forty feet in height aiul six in thickness. The temple itself, three sides of which are perfect, was twenty-six yards long and twenty-two wide ; and we walked down the central street to the forum and grand tluxitre, and from the higliest tiers of the latter could overlook the ruins from their southern extremity: while from the hill behind we could see the Xaumachia, the scene of those sham naval fights in which the Romans delighted, and the triumphal arch beyond. '['he high ground by which the city is surrounded fur- nishes numerous admirable jioints of view, and the ruins are comparatively so perfect that it needs no great stretch of imagination to rcrconstruct the streets and buildings, and people them with the busy thou- sands who once made' [erash the centre of I'kistc.n (•pulencc and < ivilisalion. [crash was prob.ibly never more magnilicent tlon during the lifetiimr of our Lord, and the two iir three centuries immedialelj' succe'eding tliat iieriod. d hf;n it was that the Decapolis altainird the sunun't of its fame and jirosperity; and tlie ruins ol such cities as Jper room of his house at t)ur disposal, an apartment not inferior to that which we had occupied at Ajlun, though it was fi.e only one of the kiiul of which the village could bo.'i^t. 1 he more we wandered among these hills, the more struck we were with tlie charm of their scenerx'. health-giving qualities of their sharp bracing air. 1 88 THE LAND OF GILEAD. and their great natural capabilities for agricultural purposes. Here was a region eminently adapted for colonisation by a people accustomed to a European climate, and requiring but little manual labour to be made sufficiently jiroductive to sustain them. Im- mediately behind Tckitty, Jebel Hakart, clothed to the summit with fine forests and broad stretches of the greenest pasture-land, reared its crest to a height of about 3 790 feet above the sea, the highest peak of the range which encircled this richly cultivated valley. In the blue haze of evening we traced the lofty irregular outline of the mountains of Ea.stern Gilead, some of which seetned to attain an even greater alti- tude than those by'^ which w'C were surrounded, all heavily timbereil, but, so far as I know, as yet totally une.xplored, and but very'^ vaguely' indicated in the best maps. Excej)t by' a few wandering Arabs they are uninhabited, and consecjuently totally unculli vated, waiting-, let us hope, to be rc(jccuj)led by the descendants of the same rac(; which once pastured their flocks in their lu.xuriant valley s, and upon ih • rolling prairie-l.ind which stretched beneath us. .Alter the return from the Captivity a number of Jews ag us settled in Gileael in the midst of a heathen poim lation. I lore were forests celebrated throughout Palestine for jiroducts of a .special nature, as we may gather from the account of the Ishmaelites who “ came from Gilead with their camels bearing srdeery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it TEKITTY. 189 to Egypt” (Gen. xxxvii. 25) ; and from the exclama- tion of the prophet, “ Is there no balm in Gilead ?” This was supposed to be a liquid resin, extracted by incision from the Aniyris Gileadcnsis, and owing to its scarceness and extraordinary qualities formed a- valuable present even to princes. Some idea of the value of this extract may be formed from the follow- ing facts narrated by Pliny. When Alexander was in JiKkea, a si)oonful was all that could be collected in a summer day ; and in a plentiful year, the great roj al park of these trees yielded only si.x gallons, and the smaller one only one gallon. It was consequently so clear that it sold for double its wchght in silver. X'espasian and Titus carried each one of the plants which produced it to Rome ; and Pompey boasted of hearing them in his triumph. The question then nut by the prophet is one which may prove most interesting in the present day to botanists — “Is iliere no balm in Gilead ’’ Whether there be or not, there can be little doubt that an intelligent ex- amination of thc\se little-known forests might suggest a profitable cultivation of those aromatic, gum, and spice-bearing shrubs for which they were once so famous. I here was only one Christian family in the little village of Tekitty. which, considering the luxuriance «f its groves and gardens, should have presented a ■uore prosperous and thriving ai)pearance than it did, I be peasants, however, lose all heart ; for the 190 THE LAND OF GILEAD. result of their industry is only that they become more squeezable for taxes than if they rcmaiimj poor, and they content tliemsclves, therefore, with producing just what is absolutely needful ; while the more squalitl and miserable is the aspect which the\ I^resent, the more immunity do the)’ secure from tlie tax-collector. Our road on the following morning skirted the hill- side of febel llakart, and for the first time iiine-trecs were thickly intenninglely to the nortli ot the direct road from tlu^ Jabbok to I^hechem, he would nu)st probably have had to recross this stream with his (locks aiul henls, ami tlu-n turn southwards ygiiu to Shechem. Ihirckhardt meulious a ruin oi\ the east side of the Jordan, also c.illed .Sukhat ; but this is open to the same objection, though it has the argument in its favour that it is situated within the territory of (iad, which we know Succoth to have been. It is just possible that it was Ut'cessary for Jacob to go so tar out of his w.iy to liiul a b>rd across 192 THE LAND OF GILEAD. the Jordan; before the matter can be decided, the Sukhat mentioned by Biirckhardt should be visited, as the site adopted by Robinson and Vandevelde seems open to the fatal objection that it is not within the limits of Gad (Josh. xiii. 27), unless we suppose the boundary of that tribe to have extended beyond the Jordan. It is evident that Succoth and Penuel were on the main route from Central Palestine to Ikistern Gilead, for by it Gideon pursued tlu; Midianitish kino;s, Zebah and Zahmmmih, following' them up prol;- ably into the mountains on our left : he then retunu.d and took vengeance on the inhabitants of tin: tun towns for refusiu;.;' supplies to his army, ra/.iii'.^f t!i!.’ tower of Penuel, and slayinir all the men in tin: place. It is probable that it was situat(;d at the most fre([uenled of the Jabbok fords, where its banks become more easj’ of access. 'I'hent wen; sonir vestiges (.)f ruin where we crossed, and from thr height above we could traci; the Course of llu; stream from the Ijase of the mountains to the Jtirdan, that there can be little doubt the site of this interest- ing locality was within vi<;w iiad w(; been tible u* place it. The Jabbi>k issuces from a gorge in the mountains of I‘b'isl<;rn Gilead, which it cleaves abuiit the centre : the scenery here has never been \ ssited, but it must, from the configuration of the country, be very picturesque. When the Ammonites were iPiven out by .Sihon they took refuge in the fa'^t' CAPABILITIES OF AJLUN. 10 .^ nesses of Eastern Gilead, and the defiles of the Upper Jabbok, which rises near their capital, Rab- bath-Animon, and then with a long sweep plunges into the recesses of these mountains, to reappear in a cleft of the high open country where we crossed it. Hence it is that when the Jews in their turn conquered Sihon, “ from Arnon unto Jabbok,” they appear to have stopped there, “ for the border of the children of Ammon was strong” (Xum. xxi. 24) ; and again it is said, “ only unto the children of Am- mon thou earnest not, unto ever)' place of the tor- rent labbok, and unto the cities in the mountains.” The mountains here allude.d to were undoubtedly those* of the eastern rang(^s, which we had been looking at all the morning, and which once, there- fore, containetl cities, the ruins of which remain yet 1(1 he discovm'ed. We had now traversed the whoh* province of Ajhin, from (.‘ast to west, and from nortli to south, and throughotit our wanderings we hatl not seen a tent, nor even a lledouin, except thos(t who were hroiight in as prisoners while w(t were at Irbid. \\ (* Had met no travelhtrs, except now and then a jedei- deh man; and hail not passed through a di'/en vil- lages on our journey -of these not one contained more than a hund’ed houses, the amount ol land be- loiiging to each village averaging about ten acres pi*r soul. l',very acre we had traversed was susceptible the highest cultivation • indeed it would be ditlicult N 194 THE LAND OF GILEAD. to imagine a countiy more highly favoured both as regards soil and climate. 'I’he crops consisted chiclly of wheat, barley, beans, and lentils ; maize, milh't, and peas were also grown. Immediately contiguous to the villages were invariably olive-groves, and often vineyards — the country being apparently especially adapted to the production of wine and oil. b'iyr almond, pistachio, and other nut-bearing trees grow wild. Kali, or saltwort, is cidtivated in some parts of Ajlun, the potass (.‘xtracted from it being exporti ;! for the purpose of making soap. Flocks of go.us are far more commonly met with than sh(,<;p, though these are also pastured on tlui hillside, chiclly hv nomad Arabs. 'I'he pi.-asants us(; ox<-n to [)lou-!: with, and occasionally own a donk(;y or two. Init very rarely a camel or a horse, tlnuigh these animal- are e.xtensively owned by tlu; nomads, d he climaL' is eminently adapted fjr the cultivation of all '1' scri[jtions of Fnglish farm and g.arden produce in io higher altitudes ; while tlu; i»roduclions (d* .Syria aia.i I'alestine, such as tobacco, silk, sesame, llax, ivc., .uc only not grown because the population is loo poverty- stricken and apathetic to raise them. l lu; snil el tin,' northern part of the province is largely cotnposal (97 is Sihon, situated to the left of our path, and which may possibly, from its similarity of name, be the site of a town of such ancient date that it was called after the first ruler of this country whom we ever hear of, Sihon, king of the Amorites. Beyond this we entered a lovely district not heavily wooded, but with a sufficient amount of timber to render it park- likc and beautiful ; and at the spring of Allixn, where there was a ruin with stime stones showing marks of great antiipiity, and some rock-tombs, there was an expanse of tlie riclu:st cultivation, surrounded by trees, commanding a fine view', and offering the most attractive combination of soil, climate, and scenery which the heart of an intending settler could desire. At this time of year there were no Arabs here ; but the cultivators, whoever they were, seemed all) during the last ten years, ".v iug to the establishment here of a seat of goveni ment. I’rior to that time .Salt, though nomiiiall) govern<;d by tlu,* Port*.*, was practically indepeudeiit , its lawless population knew no other restraints hut that which a sense of .self-pr<;servation imposed iipni’ them, fur they were constantly <[uarrell:ng with old- POPULATION OF SALT. 201 other or fighting with the Arabs. There were, it seems, always two great rival factions who were con- stantly disputing for supremacy, except when they found it necessary to combine against the common enemy ; and the history of the town is a record of the turbulent and warlike sjiirit of its inhabitants, who in former days looked upon the foreign travel ler as a victim ti> be ^jluntlercd, and upon the Turk ish official as an enemy to bii slain. When Ibrahim I’asha of b-gypt took possession of this part of Syria, he nameil an Arab sheikh to be governor of the place, and installetl him in the castle. 'I'he pco[)le prom[)tly respited this assumption of supreme au- thority, aihl cutting off th(- sheikh’s head, sent it to the Pasha as an evidence of their determination to preserve their indepimdence. Since, however, the 'I'urkish (lovernment has man- aged to sustain its authority, the inhabitants find that the security which has resulltal therefrom has attracted strangi'rs with ca[)ital, aiul that they have niateri.ally bimefiled by this sacrifice of their libt;r- ties. Salt has thus become by degrees the mercan- tile entrepot for the whole region east of the Jordan ; and the merchanis here travle with the .Arabs and advance them .aoney on their crops aiul docks ; the latter are thus imperceptilily acipiiring commercial tustincts, for nothing civilises a man so rapidly as teaching him to bor row money anil run into debt. They were also learning' to sell not merely their 202 THE LAND OF GILEAD. semen, but even their sheep, and to cultivate the land, a proceeding which the true Arab of the desert esteems in the highest degree derogatory, but which is becoming now necessary to the existence of the tribes in the Belka — so that the market liere is much frequented by Bedouins. The 2 )oj)ulation of Salt is about cciually divided between Moslem and Christian, the [)re[)onderance jjrobably being rather in favour of the fornuT. 'I'lie majority of the Cliristians belong to the Creek Church, but there arc a few Catholics and Protes- tants. .So far as external ajjpearance goes, it is not possible for th(? stranger to discriminatr; between the followers cT the different religions, 'riu; whole Ijojjulation, men anti women, are thoroughly Arab in look and bearing, though they have a type of coun- tenance somc-what jaxuliar to themselves. I'hrotigh their swarthy Cf)mj)lexif)ns I ofttm observed a riidd) tinge ; and 1 was surjwised tf) see how many of tin' women had auburn hair and blue eves, while red- bearded men were rpiite common. yMtogciher .he people arc a decidcrdly handsome race, who have keot themselves free from foreign intermixture, and have n^tained their distinctive character, doubtless owing to their isokition, and a lawlessness which has rendered fraternisatiem difficult. It has bixm -sug- gested that the fieople of Salt are the descendants of the Ivde.mites, and have retained the character- istic of th^ir progenitor I'isau. POPULATION OF SALT, 203 There is nothing in the dress of the people to dis- tinguish them from Bedouins. The women wore the long blue gown : the men despise the nether garments even of Eastern civilisation, and often go into camp like other Arabs to cultivate their dis- tant fields. Just below our window there was a copious fountain, from the old stone spouts of which gushed forth cascades, where women were em- ployed all day filling tlunr water-jars, and lingering to gossii^ : and thc;ir graceful and tercet figures and finely-cut features were quite an interesting artistic study. The abundance of cl(;ar water with which the town is supplied, and its cai)acity for defence against the methoils of barbaric warfare, have no doul)t contributed to its importanct; and stability. It has always been in one sense a city of refuge. ; and to it, from time immemorial, have outlaws escaped from justice, aiul hither have peasants from the neighbouring villages, when attacked by ,\rabs, lied for shelter. 'Phe amenmt of land now f.irmcil bv its population is 1200 feddan - w fi Jda 11 being the area of land which one yoke of o.xen can plough in a day; and the revenue accruing to tlu; Porte is about .^1000 sterling a -year, which is far short of the proper profjorrion. 'I'he remainder of the revenue which the Gov'-rnment derives from the Belka is obtained from ti»c Arabs by the dime-tax on sheep, ‘^s, however, the number which they are supposed possess usually depends upon a jirivate arrange- 204 THE LAND OF GILEAD. incnt arrived at between them and the tax-collector, by which the latter is recompensed for making the smallest possible return, no idea can be formed, from the total of taxes collected, of the number of sh(;e[) which arc pastured on the rich plains of the Belka, They are as tempting tiow to the modern cattle farmer and grazier as they were to the chihlren of Reuben and of Gad when they arrived here “ with a very great imdtitude of cattle,” and coukl not be iiuiiiced to accept an heritage anywhere else; lor “when they saw the laiul of Gilead and the land jazer, behokl the place was a place- for cattle.” 'fh ruins which have hitlnn'to been su[>posed to lx; those of Jazer- — though I have suggested llu; jx).ssibiiit\ of a dilVereiit site--are situateil a few miles to the south of Salt, where the plain country lurgius, whirl stretclujs to the coniines of Moab. In .s])ite of there being a Caimakain to gover; tliem, tin; Arabs of the Belka are tolerably ind pendent of re.straint, and llu- yoke sits lightly iqx-e those (){ the town of Salt. Tin; seat of govenuu nt is at Xablous, on the other sifle of the Jonlaii, ami it is too far distant for any direct supervision to be exercised by the Mutessarif there, who must depend upon his subordinates for repr)rts on the state ol hi.s di.itrict. This official, isolated amidst the Araks, Imds that his life is inatle s.ifi: and pleasant to him just in the di;gree that he. i.s not too severe: and in 'he abse.'-.ce of ;tny regular troops to rely upon, his ARABS OF THE BELKA. 205 influence must depend rather upon indulgence, not to say connivance, than upon force. However, there is no question that the last few years have worked an immense change in the attitude of the Arabs, which the recent arrival of some soldiers has done much to confirm ; and that, with a still more decided exercise of authority and display of force, the Belka might be made as safe and desirable a location for farming as any which could lx; found elsewhere. So far the experience of a firm hand upon the Arabs here has been most encouraging. Wherever it has been tried it has succeeded, provid(;d it has been applied with judgment and discretion. 'Fhey arc;, indeed, tem (lepcaident upon the pasture^ and arable land to defy a Gov(;rnment which could drive them fen'th into the; eastern deserts to lx- set upon by the Bc'douins there, who claim a prescriptive- right to its oases. d'he Belka, howc-ver. is extensive and it;rtil(; |■nollgh to maintain a very large population in addition to the scatten-d Arabs with thc-ir llocks who now roam over it. and for whom, in the event ef its becoming occupied by a settled population, special tracts could be n-sc-rve-d in ease they should elect to remain in the countrv. and adopt scidentary habits. The m(;n of .Salt st;emed an idle and somewhat defiant-looking race, who passed most of their time lounging in gniups at the street-corners, and criti- cising with curious gaze unusual visitors. Fhe Turk 206 THE LAND OF GILEAD. ish Government lias not yet ventured to enforce the conscription for tlic army here ; and in order to avoid being liable for it, none of the inhabitants have taken out /apoo pajicrs or title-deeds for the real property which they occupy and cultivate. 'I'lie consequence is, that throughout the whole of the Belka there is not an acre owned for which a leal title can lie shown. They now hold by prescriptive right alone, anil numerous ipiarrels arise in const! quence over the possession of land. 'I'he hillsides in the immediati; vicinity of Salt are covered with the finest vinejards, from the grapes of which exci j lent wine could be made, if the art was projier'y understood: but not one of those who cultivate theiii can produce a scrap of paper giving him any right to do so — a st.ite of things which at present maki- the transference of land, except by tlu' unsafe pp' cess of a mutual arrangement, iinpossibh'. d Is whole ciaiutry, in fact, is gox'eriual by use and cu- tom, teuqntred by the sinnevvh.at rougli princi[)!. that might makes right ; and now th.it civilisatioi. is creeidug in, t' e contest will not unnaturally aro'- betweeat the “might "that is made by money, u’.ii tliat which con-ists of sujierior numbers and brute force. According to the best estimates I cuiilu obtain at S.ilt, not :i twentieth [i.art of this ricii vince is cultivated ; and about a fourth part ol tlu ievenue to which it is irntitled ujiou tins nxicluo l'-c ( i''ve:‘ument. It is difficult to estimate what it native dislike to TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 207 probably might be made to yield if it was occu- pied by a settled population, properly and honestly administered, and the ownership of land was placed upon a legal and safe basis. We had not much opportunity of discussing these questions with the Caimakam on whom we called, as at a first interview with strangers the ordinary 'I'lirkish functionary, though e.xceedingly polite, is not always disjioscd to be connnunicativc, and we had no op[)ortunities atterwards of cultivating his acqum’ntance ; but he offered us every facility in his power for continuing our journey, and was especially anxious to impress upon us the fact that the most profound order ami trampiillity reigned throughout his Caimakamlik, in sjiite of the great difficulties with which he had to contend. In point of fact, both Christians and Arabs unite in a common feeling of dislike to the 1 urkish Gov- ernment; but I think tlu-y would entertain this feeling towards any Govt'rnment who undertook the task ot keeping them in order. It is onl\' since tlu; period of our visit that the neighbouring province of Kerak has really subniitteil to thi^ authority of the Porte, niul a detachmtait of regular troops has, 1 believe, lately been s._nt there. 'Phis will complete the pacilication oi t'li; whole country east ol the Jordan, and prepare it lor that development at tlu! hands ol ^ settled and peaceable population which I hope is ’•I store for it. 2o8 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Our future progress now became a matter of sonii; difficulty, for we were in a country destitute of any accommodation except that furnished by the vermin- haunted tents of the lledouin Arabs, upon whom we could not rely to provide grain for our horses, which we should therefore be obliged to carry with ns. 'This involved extra baggage-animals ; and though we ransacked the resources of the town, all we could obtain, after a da) ’s search, was a couijle of miser- able little donkeys. W’e availed oiirseha's of the tlela)' to make an expedition to the top of Jebel Osh’a, said to be tin; highest peak of the range of Gilead; but as these mountains have never yet been proj)erly surveyed, and the eastern part of the range is (-ntiredy unex- plored, this is still a matter of iloubt. 'bhi' town of •Salt is situated at an elevatif»n of c^.jO f(,‘et above the level ()r the sea, and Jfdxd Osh’a rises l)ehin(l it to a height of nearly irxjo fe(;t monx 'I'he path is a gradual ascent through v'ineyards, ;ind other ter raced cultivation, almost until we reach the summit, when a view burst >ipon us, for tin* extent aiid beamy of which we were quite unprepareh:i about .t'oo fee-t below us. Ixvery winding of VIEW FROM JEREL OSH’a. 209 the river, throughout almost its entire length, is mappccl out at our feet. On a projecting spur in the distance to the north, we could make out the Kalat er Rubud, which we had already visited, above Ajlun, with llermon in the distance. Tlie whole range of tlie Palestine hills, from iMount Jermak in the north to the hills bcdiind Hebron to the south, displayed their long irregular line, each peak recog- nisable and replete with its own Scrijitural associ- ation. We could even distinguisli Mount Tabor, and a litth; to the south of it, the distant shoulder uf Mount Carmel, while the Mount of Olives con- cealing Jerusalem from our view was easily detected. To tlu; south W(.: looked oV(;r tin; wooded moun- tainous country which intervenes bclween Salt and the plaiiis of Moab, with Mount Ncdjo rising out of them; while to the east the continuation of the Cilead range linut(-d the [)rus[)ect. The mountaiir is called by the Arabs Osh’a, after the prophet llosca, who is sup[)os(al t(r be buried here, and whose tomb is a .s[)ot venerated alike by Mohammedans and Chris- tians, who come and offer at it prayers and sacrifices. The Mohammedans suppose all the early biblical characters to have been giants, and have therefore constructed for 1 losea a tomb thirty-six feet long, three feet wide, and three and a half high. KMt tar from heia^ are some ruins which retain the name of Jii.ld, which .S(.>mo suitpose to have been the site of Ramoth-Ciilead ; the more gencr- 0 210 THE LAND OF GILEAD. ally accepted opinion, however, is, that Salt itself occupies the site of that town, and that Jebel Osh’a is the Ranioth-lNIizpeh (heights of the watch-tower) referred to in the Book of Joshua. There is no evidence of this, however ; it is an hypothesis bascil upon the assumption that the mountain is too prominent a topographical feature to have been left out in the enumeration of the different lantl- marks of the frontier of the tribe of Gatl, ami would be a natural point to mention where it occurs in connection with lleshbon (Josh. xiii. 26). I am strongly inclined to think, on the contrary, that the Ramoth-Mizpeh here mentionc;d is iiUmtical with the Mizpeh on Galeed, where Jacob raisetl the hcaj), not far from Mahanaim, prol>ably on llu; |el)(! Kafkafa to which I have already alludeil at some haigth (l>age 151). 'I'he text runs, “ Aiul from lleshbon unto Ramoth - i\li/p<;h and Betonim, ami from Mahanaim unto the border ,of Debir." The exact fnmtiers of tin; three tribes to the east of the Jordan is a subject surrounded with diliiciilty, partly on account of many of the places nameil not having Ix^en yet identified, and jiarll) because the definitions are in themselves not very clear, especially in the ab.sence- of sufficient reference to the points of the compass. Thus, to the tribe ot (iad was given “ Jazer and all the cities ol Ciilearl and “hall the land of the children of iXinmon, auto Aroer that is before Rabbah " (ver. 25); but to the PR0I5ABLE SITE OF RAMOTH-MIZPEH. 21 1 half tribe of Manasseh is given “ half Gilead ” (ver. 2 i), implying that the “cities of Gilead” were a group specially known by that name, and did not neces- sarily include many other cities which were in the northern part of Gilead allotted to Manasseh. Again, while Gad’s frontier is defined as being “from llcshbon unto Ramoth-Mizpeh,” to Reuben was given “ Ileshbon and all her cities that were in the plain,” some (jf which seem to have lain con- siderably to the north of 1 leshbon. Though, there- fore, 1 leshbon was alluded to in connection with the frontier of Gad, it may possll^ly have been to the south of it : so, likewise, Mahanaim is mentioned both in tin; frontiers of Ckul and Manasseh ; but it, together with IJetonim, were two of the cities of Gilead lying well inside the territory of the funner, on the north-eastern boundary of which, and some- where near them probably, was Ramoth-Mizpeh. The frontier conitecting these places with Jazer and the cities of the plain round 1 leshbon, setuns to have extended round “ half the land of the chiklren of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah. ” Rab- bah, or Rablxilh-Ammon, was not included in the territory either of Reuben or Gad ; and i\roer, which faces it, and is possibly identical with Arjun, must have indicated the south-eastern limit of the terri- tory. hrom Alal'.anaim the frontier goes on to the border of Debir, wltich, as its name signifies, is a high pasture-land, and is probably identical with 212 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Lo- debar, the birthplace of Machir, the son of Ammiel, who came to David while he was at Mahanaim {2 Sam. xvii. 27). Debir would in that case be somewhere between Mahanaim and the Sea of Tiberias, and com[)lete the frontier to its north-western point, which, we learn, was on “tho edge of the Sea of Chinnereth on the other side of Jordan eastward,” from whence the western boundary follows the cities of the valley of the Jordan hack to the group of cities in the plain of Heslibon. If, as is generally supjiosed, and I think with ixa son, Ramoth-Mizpeh and Ramoth-Clilead arc ir close proximity, the latter is not the city of Salt, which has hitherto been the sit(; api)ropriated to it, but it must have Iain with Ramoth-Mi/peh on th north-eastern slopes of the mountains of Ajliiii riiis view is borne out by the fact that “to son of (ieber in Ramoth-Cdlead pertained the towc- of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which arc in ( ulciil to him, also, pertained the region of Argob, wliivi is in IJashan, threescore great cities, with wa!'- and brazen bars.” If .Salt lx: Ramoth-( 'lilead, son of (Ieber wouhl have had to traverse Ixttli tii' mountain-ranges of (lilead and then the 'plan' "i the Hauran, l>etwcen three and four da) s’ juiirnty, Ijcfore he could have reached i\rgob, probabb the modern Lejaii ; and intervening betwe'en him and his territory would have been “ Aminadab the sen of Tddo, who had Mahanaim." Now it is e.vtremdy rROBAllLE SITE OF RAMOTH-GILEAD. 213 unlikely that his residence would be thus widely separated from his territory ; whereas if Ramoth- Gilead lay on the borders of that part of Gilead which belonged to Manasseh, his possession of the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, becomes most natural. These probably ex- tended from the Jebel Kafkafa or Jerash, at or near which I believe Ramoth-Gilead to have been, to the Lcjah. Another argument in favour of Ramoth- Gilead being upon these inwlliern .sloi)es, lies in the fact that it hail been taken !))■ the king of Syria, when }c;hoshaphat and Ahab went to recapture it (I Kings xxii.) I bul it bec'.n identical with Salt, Iviiig at the, south-west corner of Gilead, the king of Sjria coining from the north-east would have had to compier all Gileail, with its cities, before he reached it, traversing two mountain-ranges and a most dif- ficult countiy. Moreover, we should certainly ha\e hcardof so great an achii.ivement.whcreas lehoshai ihat specified Ramoth in (dlead a[iparent]y as the only town taken. If, on the other hand, it was situated on its north-eastern mountain-slopes, it would naturally be one of the first, perhaiis the first, most imiiortant town to fall into the hands t>f the king of Syria, as he would fir.st strike the frontier of Gilead here. \Vhen, upwards of thirty years alter this, the con- quest of Ciilead did take place, we are exiiressly told that “in those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and llazael smote them in all the coa.sts of 214 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Israel ; from Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Arocr, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan ” (2 Kings x. 32). Some years prior to this Jorani had attacked Hazacl at Ramoth-Gil- ead, had been severely wounded, and returned him- self to Jezreel, sick. Then Jehu had been anointed king at Ramoth-Gilead as tin; successor of Joram, and had “driven furiously” to Jezreel, where he slew Joram. If Ramoth-Gilead be Avherc I sup- pose it to have been, his course would have heiMi due west on the plains we had travamstal, tlie dis- tance from thirty-five to forty miles, which he could easily hav'e accomplished in a day. It would havi; been nearly doul.de the distanct? from Salt. The only argument in favour of Salt Ixdng Ramoth- Gilead is. that the Arabs have retained the name of Jilad in the case of a ruin and tin; range I)ehin(l the town, while; they call the mountains to the. north of the labbok, febel Ajlun; but no such distinctioi! is made in tin; Bible;, the whole country, includ- iiiLf Ijoth ranges, being calU:tl (.'dlead: besides, it is probable that many other ]daces besides Ranuitii- Gih.ad had the suflix (iihiad. The fact that biiis puts it fifte(;n miles west of Ralibath-Ammoii, is counterbalanced liy Jeronn;, who puts it that distance to tlie east, a position manilestly absurd. ICwald, who is e.xtremely can-ful and painstaking m such matter.s, [mts it at Keinum, a vdl age on the SALT NOT RAMOTH-GILEAD. 215 north of the Jabbok dose to Jerash; while the Arabic version of the Book of Joshua, and the Jewish tra- veller Parchi, put it at Jerash itself (see Smith’s ‘Dictionary of the Bible’), a still more probable spot. Wherever it may have been, I think we are compelled to abandon the notion that it Avas to the south of the Jabbok, and, least of all, at Salt. I have entered at some length into a consideration of the claims of .Salt to be identified with Ramoth-Gil- racl, and Jcbel Osli’a with Ramoth-i\liz[)eh, because it seems to have been taken for granted that they are so by so many authorities ; and I think the sites of these two important Biblical localities have v(;t to be; asccrtain(;d, as there sc(;ms to be a danger of confusion arising in regard especially to the sites of the various Mizp(;hs mentioned in the bible. 'I'hus Mr (injve, whose aullumity upon all such points is t<.)0 high to be lightly (piestionetl, is of opinion that Jebel (^sh'a was also the Mizpeh where the children of Israel ass(;mbled to decide what punishment was to be inllicted upon the trilte of Benjamin and the city ‘>f ( jibeah. alter the out- rage on the Levitc and his concubine. It seems to he quite impossilde that this Mizpeh can have been situated to the cast of the Jordan at all, but rather that it must have been the Mizpeh of Benjamin, also ^ place of great sanctitx'. and <'ne ot the three holy cities — the other two being Biahel and Cdlgal — where the ark was kep't, where Saul was chosen 2i6 THE LAND OF GILEAD. king’, and where Samuel judged the peojile, and which was in close proximity to Gibcah : for we read that, having decided whicli tribe should lead the at tack, they rose up in the morning, encamped against Gibcah, were defeated, went up and wept before the Lord, evidently returning to hlizpeh to supplicate there; renewed the battle the second day, were again defeated, went back again to Mizpeh, and “ came into the house of God ” and “ intiuireil of the Lord " (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those da)’s), and again renewed the battle the thinl day, when they were finally victorious. Now it would have been physically ami materially inipos sible for them to have la-tunual to the lop c.if h 'Dii Osh’a on the other side of joialan after the first dav s battle, and then to have iiKirched out again ar.d fought all da\' at Gilieah, and got back again t- jebel ( )sh’a the same night, repeating the proco three times, for no arm)’ c<>idd march from Jel.' ' Osh’a to Gibeah of neiijamin under two whole days: Init if wc suppose them to be encampeil on tir modern Xeb)’ .Samwil, w hich has been ioentilied as llie site of Mi/.peh of llenjamin, the acliievenica.l becomes perfectl)’ po.ssible, for it is not .djove tin’' n miles from the modern Tuleil el Jhil, which lias ho’ii identifietl by Dr Robinson as the site ol (dbeali ol Lenjamin. Jtwald is of opinion that Mi/ja hwasa tow n and fortress to the north of the jaldook. 1 he first mention we have of Salt, according te THE BENI HASSAN. 217 I'll' Porter — who also assumes it to be Ramoth-Gilcad — in later times, occurs in the sixth century, under the Greek form Salton. He suggests that the fact of its being mentioned in the ‘ Notitiee Ecclesiastica;,’ in connection with the addition of the word ITieratiais or “ sacerdotal,” is strong proof of its being the Leviti- cal city of Ramoth-Gilead ; but I think the fact that it was then the seat of a bishop’s see is sufficient to account for this epithet, and that to a,pi>l)' to it the sacred charactea* it was supposed to have had 2000 years before that time, is a somewhat strained assumption. Salt first l)ecame a place of sonu; Importance dur- ing' the Crusades, when Saladin cslablislu'.d himself in this countrx'. The casth; is a large (|uadrangular edifice, built somewhat on the plan of the Kalat er Rubud, with a moat hewn out of the soliil rock ; some part of the buihling shows signs of great anti(pilty. It was built l.iy the Sultan Pibars in the thirteenth century, and has been kejit in tolerable.- npair since then. There is said to be a secret passage connecting it with the fountain in the town. When we returned to Salt we found that all the sheikhs of the Peni 1 las.san tribe of .\rabs had arrived at the summons of the Caimakain to settle a matter of tribute. 'I'hc Peni llassan occupy the country called PsZuweit, to tl'.e east of J crash, and from there south- ^vards to the Jabbok, at the point whi'i'e it lorces its "ay through the eastern mountains ot Ciilead — in 2i8 THE LAND OF GILEAD. fact, exactly that hiIAli -llli: SU 1’. ri:k R AN KAN tHllKS (jK ni'.KA'K, HKI.OOLA, AND RAIIAU KAl’.UATH - AMMON I Hi: (.KKAr rilKAIKi: CJCUUKIKD 1!V CIU^■A^^SIA^■>. Ai r!:K crossini^' tlic stream which brawls clown thc! narrow cjop^c call(.:d the' Wady Shall), on the banks of wliich every available inch of L;'round is cultivatc^d, in terraces rising one aliovc another In most impos- sible places, we scrambled up the steep [)ath that leads to the high southern platc^au, which we reached in about an hour, and then travc-rsc.'d a rich grassy plain to a s[)ring, or rather tank, around which, however, I did not observe any ruins. Po tlie nj^Iit the hills were heavily wooded, and amidst them the picturesque gorges commemee which cleave die range laterall)', carrying tluar torrents by the ^Vuly Seidun, the W'ady Azrak, tlu* Wady Seir, other raviiu s, down to tiu! vallc'y of the Jordan. The combination here of rich arable! and [lasture land, with fine forests, was all that could be desired agricultural purposes. The land about here 226 THE LAND OF GILEAD. for the purpose of selling the alkali, but I am ig, norant of their botanical name. They were about the size and presented the appearance of stunted oak - trees. The temperature here was delightful, and there was a bracing freshness about the air which was most invigorating. After traversing this elevated region for about four miles we suddenly came upon a fertile valley, in the centre of whicli, near a spring, was a ruin, where we stopped to lunch, and which we found full of interest, d'he founda- tions were perfect of wdiat had fonnerl)' been appa- rently' a Roman temple. The length of the edifice was sevent}’-five yards and its breadth twenty-five. It had been divided in the middk?, and in each compartment were tlie remains of a chamber. One of these was thirty-five feet by twenty. The walls, compo.sod of massive stone, were still standing to a height of from ten to fifteen feet, liiit in neither case were the roofs existing, l lu; other chainher was smaller, but the walls were more perfect ; over shadowing' them was a group of magnificent o;ik- trees. Ruins in the.se coiintri(-s, as a rule, stand in such barren loralitie.s, that it was (jiiite a new exp le ence to come acro.ss any thus delightfully' enibowen d. All round, the grass was growing knee-deep, and enr tinimals revelled in the lu.xiiriant pasture. besides the .spring, which was situateil ti hundred yards or so from the ruin, there was well in its immediate neighbourhood ; this, however, had httea JAJ US. 227 blocked with huge stones by the Arabs, but near it stood an ancient stone trough which may originally have been a sarcophagus. The name of this in- teresting spot is Jajus, and I think it has a strong claim to be considered identical cither with the an- cient Jahaz or Jahaza or Jahazah, or else with Jazer. ]ahaz is mentioned as one of the cities forming the frontier of the tribe of Reuben, and the difficulty of identifying Jajus with it is, that in that case it would slightly sc;en\ to overlap the frontier of Gad. file south-eastern town of Gad, as I have before shown, was Aroer which faces Rabbath - Ammon. Now Rabbath-Aininon, as nearly as I could calcu- late, li(is about eight miles due south of Jajus, while .\rocr, according to the dc;scription in the Bible, vHight to have lieen if anything to the north of lajus. Still it is ejuite possible that Aroer may have been seven or iright miles to the north ot Rabbath- Ammon, ami yet Vie near enough to lie vlclined as “before (or facing) it." In that case the ditiiciilty is to some e.xtent removed ; ’ under any circumstances the frontie-r of Reulien in the Biblical iitaps seems to have beiui placed too far south. It certainly ran cm the e-asterl\- side from Aroer on the Arnon to Aroer that is before Rabbath-.Vmmon. And if the latter .\roer was to the north-west of that lIuTo is a ruin. t(i r.hich I li.ivc aliv.uly alliklcil, ralkal .\rjun, I’etwffn jajus and R.d)l)atli-.\minon, w’nii li m.iy be llic .Vrocr ol Oad ; t'Hl tins re(|uiris vciilication. 228 THE LAND OF GILEAD. city beyond it, the northern frontier probably ran from Beth Nimrah on the plain of the Jordan op- posite Jericho in a north-easterly direction to Rab- bath-Ainnion, or possibly to the north of it, instead of due east to a point ten miles to the south of that city, as it is at 2ircsent delineated in the niajjs. Kwald jjlaces Jahaz a little to the south of Am- mon, but his assumjjtion is merely based upon con- jecture. Eusebius places it between Medeba and Dibon, which brings it tlown almost to the southern frontier of Reuben instead of the northern. Dr Porter does not seem to admit the existence; ul' two Aroers, but considers that the Aroer Avliich faces Rabbath-Ammon is identical with .\roer on the Arnon, which was the most southern town in Reuben, and which, being at h.-ast forty miles from Rabbath-.Xmmon, cannot [) 0 .ssil)ly be; considered :is “before” or “facing” it; but here, again, we have .1 (.lifficiilty, for we are told that “the children of G:ul built niljon, and .Ataroth, and Aroer." 'I'hese thro- towns ar(; all situated in tin; south of the territory 1 i Reuben, Dibon and Aroer being only about tlwe; miles apart. There can lx; no doubt about tueir identity ; but why the Gadites should have n;b:ult towns forty mih s away' from their own Ironticr, at the .south(;rn extremity of Reuben's territory, can only be explained upon tin; hyi)othesis that it was done before the land to the east of the Joriiaa divided, but after the three tribes had decided to JAHAZ. 22y occupy it, and that in the subsequent division Reu- ben obtained some of the towns built by the Gad- ites, though it would not seem that the Gadites obtained in compensation any of the cities built by the Reuben ites. 'I'hat there were two Aroers is, I think, clearly implied by the way they are described. In the case of Reuben it is said, — “ And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the j)lain, and all the plain by Medeba" (Josh. xiii. i6). While the fron- tier t)f Gad is thus defined, — “ And their coast was Jazer, and all the citi(“s of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Kabbah ” (ver. 25). Mention is also repeatedly madt: oLsewhere of Aroer as a town in Gad, apparently to distinguish it from Aroer on the Arnon. The latter town being forty miles distant from the fron- tier of ( bid settles the question of there having been two .Aroers. Jahaz is chiefly interesting from the circumstance that it was at this point that Sihon king of the Ainoriles resisteil the passage, of Moses and the Israelites, when permission was requested of him that 'they should be allowed to pass peaceably through his territory on their way across the Jor- dan to take possession of Palestine. It may be objected that the position of the ruins is too far to the north and east ; but it must be remembered that 230 THE LAND OF GILEAD. Moses had skirted Moab in order to avoid a col- lison, and “ sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of the Amorites with words of peace ” (Dent. ii. 26). And it is further stated that “ Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness ; and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel” (Num. xxi. 23); thus showing that the scene of the whole transaction was in the extreme eastern part of the country, and on the verge of the desert. The position of Jajus corresponds to this, for we reached the desert in the evening of the same da)'. It is true there is a discrepancy in the narrative, ami that in the account given in Numbers the mcsstnigers arr said to have been sent from the to2) of Pisgah, wliich is generally supposed to be Nebo ; but, under an) circumstances, it is clear that Moses could not con- tinue his march with an enemy advancing from tin; desert ujion his flank ; and his subsequent operations rather go to jirovc that the scene of the battle wa^ far to the east, for it resulted in the i)ossessi()n of the laml “from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the chil- dren of Ammon.” I'hc Jabbok, on which was situ- ated Rabbath-Ammon, being, as I have said, about eight miles distant, tvould answer this de.scrij.'lion. .After possessing^ the land they advance upon Og the king of Ilashan, attacking and defeating him at ltdrei. Their line of march from Jahaz would be north for about fifty miles along the present Madj SITE OF JAZER. 231 road, from which Jajhs is about twelve miles dis- tant, They would thus skirt, by keeping along the edge of the desert, the strong places of the children of Ammon in Eastern Gilead, into which we are told " they did not come.” Jahaz was one of the cities (riven with its suburbs to the Mcrarite Levites (i Chron. vi. 78), and is denounced in Isaiah (Isa. XV. 4) in these terms, — “ And Heshbon shall cry, and KIcaleh : their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz.” Elealeh is between Jajfis and Heshbon, and distant from tlie former about fifteen miles. Iden- tically the same expression occurs in Jeremiah (xlviii 34). There is another town, the site of which has never been properly identified, while its name seems to have a cc-rtain similarity to Jajus, and the claims of which it may be worth while considering. This is Jazer or Jaazer, or, in its extended form, Jaezzeir (see Smith’s Diet.) It was a city of the Amorites, of some importance, as may be gathered from its giving its name to the surrounding district. When the children of Reuben and of Gad “ saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle,” they deciiled upon remaining there. It is aft( rwards called Jazer of Gilead (1 Chron, x.wi. 31). After the battle with Sihon at Jahaz, it was taken by the Israelites on their way to bashan by the oute I have already described. It >s one of the towns mentioned in connection w’ith THE LAND OF GILEAD. ^ 3 ^ Arocr and Jogbehah as having been rebuilt by the Gadites (Num. xxxii. 35). It was one of the cities of Gad whose “ coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah.” Now Jogbehah may, I think, be satisfactorily identified with Jubci- hah, a ruin which we afterwards passed on our way froni Ammon (Rabbah) to Salt, and lies, as nearly as I could judge, about four miles south-west of Jazer; it is very likely, therefore, to have been coujded with it. When Joab passed over Jordan to number the people, “he pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer.” It was given with its suburbs to the Mcrarite Levites, and its doom is pronounced both by Isaiah and Jeremiah, in terms iin[)lyinL; that it was celebrated for its vineyards : “ l*'or the fields of Heshbon languish, and the viiu; of Sib mah.” Sibmah was, according to Jerome, a suburb of Ilcshbon. “The lords of the heathen hav( broken down the principal j)lants thereof, they arc come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness : her branches are stretched out, they ;;re gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Ja.:er, the vine of Sibmah.' la Jeremiah there is the same allusion to the vine ot .Sibmah and the weeping of Jazer, and he continues: “ Thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer : the spoiler is fallen upon SITE OF JAZER. 233 thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.” That the surrounding country was, above all, adapted for vine- culture, was a fact which forced itself specially upon our notice ; and our servants, who came from the Lebanon, and were accustomed to the vineyards there, never ceased pointing out to us the superior excellence of the country round Jajfis. That a large pond or reservoir might easily be formed in the valley in which it was situated, and which in w'et weather was evidently marshy, might account for the allusion to the sea. It is still more probable, however, that the allusion w’as to the lake which once . overed the now depressed plain of the Bechaa, which must have been between forty and fifty miles in circunifi.M'encc, and which from its proximity would ver)' naturally be called the sea of Jazer, the vines on the hills round which would stretch their branches over it. luis(;bius and Jerome, who are by no means ac- curate generally in their dtdinitions, laj' down the position of jazer as eight or ten Roman miles west of Rabbath - Ammon, and fifteen irom Heshbon. Had they added north, they would almost exactly have hit Jajfis, wdiich is, however, considerably more than fifteen mile; from Heshbon. They lurther place it at the source of a stream which Hows into the Jordan, whereas the waily in which Jajfis is situated falls int<. the Jabbok. 'Fhere are two other sites westward of Rabbath- Ammon, which are sev- 234 THE LAND OF GILEAD, erally supposed by Burckhardt and Seetzen to be those of Jazer; but one is a great deal too far to the west, and nothing definite so far has been dis- covered. There is a Jazel near Heshbon, but this would not be in the land of Gilead. Jahaz and Jazer were evidently not far distant from each other, and have so many points in common that I must leave it to some one more competent than myself to decide between the relative claims of the two places. But that Jajus represents the site either of one or tlie otlier I do not entertain much doubt While we were sitting at luncheon under the shade of one of the fine old trees, an Arab canic up and reverently kissed a huge slab of stone which, laid horizontally upon two upright blocks, fijnncfl the entranct*, to an Arab burying-plact;. It was cr closed by a circle of ancient stones almost druidica! in their arrangement, and, we were informed, con- tained the tomb of a sheikh celebrated for hi-; sanctity. .Several smaller circles of the stones, whicli had been j)art cjf the ruins, formed other graveyards. We followed down the valley for a cpiarter ol a mile, observing all the way traces of the anci i.t city and scattered ruin.s, and then on a low hill on the right came iipr n an extensive area of excava- tions. The mound looked like a gigantic rabbit- warren, so honeycombed was it with vaults, many of the niches of which were still in an e.xccllcnl state of preservation, while the foundations of houses and RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 235 their walls, to a height of three or four feet, showed that a populous part of the city had once been here. Whether the vaults had been used as dwellings or as granaries it was impossible to determine, but probably the main street had led down the centre of the valley from the temple to this spot, which formed the mercantile quarter, with stores and ware- houses. That it had been a place of considerable importance in the time of the Romans there can be little doubt. Indeed the whole of this neitjhbour- hood would be well worthy a far more extended examination than we were able to give it. We follo\%ed down the wady for an hour and a half from this point, the hillsides gradually changing their appearance and becoming more barren, and reached in the centre of the vallej' the Ain cl C'lhazal, or spring of the gazelle. This is generally put in the maps in the valley of the Zerka ; but all the maps of this region are quite inaccurate, as it has never been surveyed: and Dr .Smith’s excellent map, usually so correct, is here quite at fault, for it puts Kalat Zerka three or four miles to the cast of the Zerka or Jabbok, whereas it is actually upon it. The wady which we hail followed so tar is called thc' Wady Zorbi. and falls into the valley of the Jabbok about two miles from the Ain el Cihazal. Ihe fountain itself is a very copious one, bursting out of thc side of a small narrow ravine or cleft in the valley. The stream becomes almost immediately 23<5 THE LAND OF GILEAD. large enough to be used for irrigating purposes, and the Arab cultivation begins from this point and continues down to the Jabbok, where that stream is used in like manner, diverted into numerous rivu- lets, and irrigates the level bed of the valley, which averages half a mile and sometimes more in breadth. The whole of this area was an expanse of waviii” spring crops, and looked like a broad river of tlu; brightest green winding between hillsides covered with a low wormwood scrub, from amid which red crags projected, forming here and there caves and fi.ssures. Near the Ain cl Clhazal we met an Aral sheikh armed with a spear and accompanied by twi attendants. With the exception of the Arabwt; lui i seen at Jajus, we had met no other human beiiios since leaving the Arab camp in the llech.la. \\'- rode for an hour and a half down the valley of tin Jabbok, — the river itself was thickly fringcxl -with oleanders,— when we came upon the ruined fort e! Hr Rusaifa. 'I'he outside walls -- of which littL more than the foundations witre visible — wen about eighty yards by fifty ; in the centre won the remains of a tower about twenty feet squa.e, eight or ten feet of the walls of which were sti ! standing. This wai in all probability an outp"^'t built by the Jefnides or (iha.ssanides, Arabs wln» immigrated here from Southern Arabia, and occu- pied this country for about five centurii es after tlu Roman authority had declined. I'o them an; due MILITARY POST. 237 most of the massive stone forts on the Hadj road. Soon after this we came upon some Arabs of the Beni Adiyet tribe engaged in irrigating. Many of the men at work were negroes, and are the slaves of tlie Arabs. The principal encampment of the tribe was distant a mile or so to the left, and we sent one of them to tell the sheikh to come and meet us at Kalat Zerka, as he was the man whose assistance we hoped to obtain for our further pro- gress. Half an hour afterwards we reached the broad camping-ground of the Iladj on the banks of the Zerka; and on the other side, on a hill about 300 feet above the river, stood the stpiare fort of Kalat Zerka, surrounded by the white bell-tents of some 'I'urkish soldiery. We spurred across the ford and up the steep slope, to the in- tense astonishment of soim; soldiers who were lead- ing down their mules to wat<;r, and who little (;x- jiecU'd to be suddenly confronted with luiropeans in this remote corner of the desert. We soon fouml emt the officer in command, who turned out to bci a captain whose life, had been spent in .service against the .Arabs, and who had not been engaged in the late war. lie nxchved us most kindly in his (.liminutive tent, and we were soon joined by the lieutenant and a.ssistant-surgeon, or rather apothecary, who was the best educated ot ihe three, and spt)ke b' reach fairly, lie had been through the late campaign in Bulgaria, and spoke in 238 THf; LAND OF GILEAD. high terms of the medical and hospital assistance which had been rendered by England on that oc- casion. The detachment consisted of 200 men of the mounted mule infantry, the same regiment which we had already met at Irbid, — they had only arrived here ten days before*. Prior to that no garrison had been established here for ten years, but Midhat Pasha was determined to put a stop to the raids of the Beni .Sukhr aiul Anazeh across the desert fron- tier into Eastern Palestine, and this detachment had been moved down here to check tlnnn. 'I hcy were the most advanced post on the Matlj road south- wards, but since then 1 hear that some troojjs hav ■ been sent to Kcrak. Kalat Zerka is the e.\treme limit of vegetation eastward from the Jordan. Here begins the tleson, which e.xtends without a bn.-ak, e.vcept an occa.sioiia! oasis, to the I'.uphrates. From here it is al)out ten, days’ journey on a camel to Bagdad. The Hath takes a week to reach this station from Danias cus, from which it is about 120 miles distant diu- south ; this does ntjt include ten tlays’ halt at .Mezarib. Standing on the edge of tin* hill, looked southward ami eastward over the rolling desert, while to the north-west were the high wotjt!- ed mountains of Ibistern Gilead, and south-west I’nc valley of the Jabl)ok. 'I he str(!am here, (lowing from its sources near Rabbath - Ammon, makes an im- mense bend, this being its e.xtremc eastern iioint. KALAT ZERKA. 239 It now trends north-westward, and forces its way through the gorges which cleave the mountains of Gilead. There is no certainty that the Israelites ever settled themselves so far to the east as this, as it was some miles beyond the eastern frontier of Gad, though there can be little doubt that the force sent by Moses to conquer Bashan must have passed by this spot after the battle of Jahaz — Edrei, the capi- tal of Og, and the scene of the victory of the Israel- ites over him, being, as I have already said, about fifty miles to the north. In the neighbourhood of Kalat Zerka took place, in all probability, some of those iierce fights against the Midianites, the nar- rative of which is contained in Holy Writ. While the land of Midian proper was on the east coast of the Gulf of Akaba, it is evident that l^y the Midianites were understood all the Abrahamic Arabs who wan- dered over the desert as far north as the Lejah, and whose range included Kalat Zerka; lor the five princes captured by Moses were “ dukt:s of Sihon dwelling in the country,” — eviilently, therefore, tributary to the Ainorites, who, together with the Ammonites, occu- pied this region. That they should have crossed East- ern Palestine and uiven battle to Gideon st) far north as Jtizreel, on the plain of PIsdraelon, proves that their preilatory excursions were by no means limiteil to the southern deserts. After their tlefeat by' that warrior they lied across Jordan and made a second stand, apparently on the frontier of their own terri- 240 THE LAND OF GILEAD. lory, at a place called Karkor. Hither Gideon fol- lowed them, and “ went up by the way of them tliat dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host” (Judges viii. 1 1). Now Jogbe- hah is, as I before said, identical with Jubeihah, a ruin only a few miles distant : it is probable, therefore, that as “ the way of them that dwelt in tents ” be- gins here, Karkor was in this immediate neighbour- hood, perhajjs Kalat Zcrka itself. Again, when Mcfees attacked the Midianites, it Avas evidently from this quarter ; for immediately after the account of his campaign against them, ami the immense plunder which he obtained, the tribes of Reuben and (lad, who took part in the operations, "saw the land of Jazer, that it was a gooil place fur cattle.” There can be little